


Restless

by silder



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 107,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23287516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silder/pseuds/silder
Summary: In a world where pokémon can be as ferocious as they can be friendly, OC Finn tries to find his way to the Johto Pokémon League. Follows G/S/C games very loosely. (Will feature familiar characters/faces as well)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm putting this AN here over a year after starting this story. This project started out as an exercise in writing, and I'm well aware that the first 4-5 chapters are pretty dense. After that, I'd like to think that the story becomes more coherent and begins to flow better. I'd love to hear any critiques or suggestions that you have, so feel free to PM or review with your comments.
> 
> Restless is a bit on the dark side, and is an attempt to show what a more realistic pokémon world would look like. It's heavily influenced by Sacrifice and Subjugation by MetalDargon as well as the heaps of other great OC trainer stories out there.

**Chapter 1: Outside**

Finn waited patiently while gazing out of his bedroom window. The night sky was cloudless, allowing the brightness of the full moon to cast elongated shadows across the grass below. Lunar light flitted through the surrounding trees' barren limbs. In the coming weeks, the cold would begin to fade away and the tree's would sprout anew. On the ground next to him, a worn leather satchel lay ready.

The green-lit digital numbers of his watch read 12:48 a.m. when he heard it. Reverberating from the other side of the house, the sound of his stepfather's newfound slumber reached his ears; the snores signaling that it was finally time to go.

Cautiously, he pried open the window's metal latch, careful to avoid any unnecessary sound. A rush of cold air greeted his face as the window swung open. Knowing that one misstep could spell ruin for the night, he gently scooped up his bag, and like a gargoyle he perched himself upon the window frame.

Then, with practiced ease, he leaped out into the open air and grasped the branch of a rather conveniently placed oak tree. The sturdy limb—strong enough that it wouldn't snap, but not so robust that it could completely carry his weight—gently sagged low enough for him to safely drop onto the mulch covered ground below.

Recovering from a crouch, he stood tall and hurried out of the immaculately manicured yard. Once clear of the townhome's vicinity, he fell into a steady jog alongside the dark neighborhood road, the familiar rhythm calming his nerves.

Minutes later, he spotted the silhouette of a teenager impatiently tapping his foot on the ground, his back resting against a light post. The teenager's bearing held a subdued sort of excitement, which made sense in a way, what they were doing was not strictly legal.

"Whelp Finn, it sure took you long enough," said Alan O'Toole, smirking. "You _do_ remember what that means?"

"Yeah, sure, I know—you get dibs on the first pokémon we see," said Finn slightly out of breath. He shared a look of conspiratorial camaraderie with the other teen. "It took forever for Vince to go to sleep. How long have you been waiting?"

"Around 30 minutes," said Alan, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. He was dressed in similar fashion to Finn, wearing a dark brown wool jacket buttoned to the top, worn jeans, and a pair of scuffed sneakers. The attire almost made the other boy look like one of the hikers that commonly came to Blackthorn for work.

"Do you have everything?" Finn asked.

"Sure do," said Alan, patting a traveling bag on his shoulder. A slight wrinkling of his brow told Finn that the other boy was not as confident as he was letting on.

"Perfect, let's get on with it then," said Finn.

Finn quickly led them down the road until they reached a small bridge that crossed over a meandering creek. He motioned for Alan to follow him off the side of the road. "We'll follow the water until we get to the south facing wall. That's where Orion said the opening is supposed to be."

"Are we sure about this? What if he is just trying to get us into trouble?" said Alan.

"I'm pretty sure. I mean, how else did he get that massive geodude of his? I know he wasn't selected the typical way, it would've been in the paper."

Alan shrugged in acknowledgement, and began descending the embankment to the creek bed. Falling in step behind the other boy, Finn scanned the thin copse of pines that grew alongside the gurgling water, looking for anything that might resemble a pathway.

The cloudless sky and full moon allowed for as clear a view as one could hope for at this time of night. It was not long before he noticed a grouping of slightly worn stones that were almost entirely concealed by pine needles and moss. The pattern was one that would only be obvious to those who were looking for it. "Hey, look over there! I think that's it," he said.

"Good catch," said Alan, climbing towards where Finn had pointed.

Finn could see his breath in front of his face as he ambled along the sparsely traveled pathway. Wild blackberry canes and thistle grew rampant throughout the underbrush, occasionally catching at his clothes with their thorns.

This area was probably one of the least traveled parts of Blackthorn city. It was a small park-like area, where plants were allowed to grow in their natural state. It was a glimpse of nature for city folk who weren't able to regularly venture outside the city walls.

Blackthorn was a sprawling city within Johto that cleverly incorporated the surrounding mountainous terrain into its structures and protections. The city was famous because it was home to the current League Champion, and an ancient clan of dragon type pokémon masters resided there. On a more foundational level, Blackthorn happened to be home to one of the region's most successful apricorn processing plants. Apricorns were the key ingredient to creating different versions of pokéballs.

To the city's north and east were the Silver Mountains, which spanned all the way down to New Bark town splitting Kanto and Johto. To the south—where Finn and Alan were currently headed—was a massive wall made of stone that was erected to protect the city from the powerful creatures that lived in the outside world.

Looking up through the pine needles, he saw that the path was quickly coming to an end. The rows of trees along both banks of the creek ceased abruptly, abutting a towering wall of stone. To their left he could make out the glimmering water of the creek passing through a weather worn metal lattice. Sticks and leaves too large to pass through bobbed up and down at the exit.

"Looks like we're here," said Finn, in a whisper.

"Now what?"

"Well, Orion said that the opening was down by the water so we should probably start there."

The two teens carefully maneuvered their way down to where the masonry met the ebbing water. This near the wall they had to be sure to keep silent. Sentries often stood guard at random points along the wall. Urban legends told of horror stories of what the guards would do to the teenagers who tried to leave without permission.

The reality was probably worse for Finn. Fines for being outside past curfew were steep; the fines for sneaking outside the wall without a license were even steeper. Finn knew that these laws were for everyone's protection, but it did not make them any less restrictive, especially for the stepson of an apricorn farm-hand who had never been outside city limits.

Up close the metal barrier looked incredibly sturdy. Shaped like a loosely woven apple pie, he could see faint ripples in the shiny surface that looked similar to the feathers of a bird. At the right edge of the barrier, the metal was roughly peeled backwards forming a hole large enough for a sufficiently determined person to slip through.

' _This must be_ it,' Finn thought, before turning to Alan. "You ready? Put a repel in your pocket just in case."

Finn quickly slipped through the small opening. After only a foot or so he could feel the beginnings of a stone ledge that ran alongside the creek. He followed the stone until he was looking out from under the archway into a moonlit clearing.

Never having seen it in person before, Finn had almost forgotten that the city kept the trees cut back to increase the visibility of any approaching threat. This somewhat complicated matters. If a guard happened to look out their way while they crossed the field, they would be easy to spot. Finn just hoped that what they were doing was common enough that even if they were spotted, the sentries might look the other way.

"Let's make a run for it? Maybe we should follow the creek for extra cover until we reach the woods?" said Finn, voice wavering with uncertainty. He hadn't expected to feel so vulnerable once outside the city walls.

"Sounds good," said Alan, "If we're caught, we'll just have to try some other way. I mean—there's always waiting for a League subsidized starter? Sure it would take a while, but we'd have time to save up some money before starting off," Alan sighed, looking at his surroundings. "Though, we're already out here, aren't we?"

From above, the telltale murmur of conversation quickly put an end to Alan's talking. Stiff and ashen faced, they sat underneath the archway hoping that the sentries would pass. Only after a couple minutes when the voices began to fade away did he begin to speak again.

"Okay, I think we're clear," said Alan.

Finn nodded, and readied himself. He rubbed his gloved hands together for warmth.

Technically, in order to pass freely outside the city walls all that was required was to have a pokémon trainer license and a pokémon partner. The latter part was the complication. Unless you had a lot of money to purchase from a breeder, or won the Blackthorn Gym's lotto you were typically out of luck. Recently, the lotto had been taking so long that sometimes an entrant could wait years before they received a partner. Finn and Alan had decided to try a more risky approach.

Outside city limits there were plenty of threats that they'd need to watch out for. The giant bear pokémon ursaring often prowled the forests surrounding Blackthorn at night, while skarmory, the sharpedo of the skies, hunted during the day. Repels were effective, but amazingly expensive.

Finn and Alan had saved for months to be able to purchase the six-pack of repels and pokéballs for that night's journey. Finn had worked by cutting lawns in the more expensive part of town, and Alan by working at the local ice cream shop.

Without looking back, both teens sprinted out of the tunnel. Out under the fullness of the moon Finn felt exposed, naked to the outside world. His arms pumping madly, he was both terrified and exhilarated at the same time. It was a freeing feeling that he was unaccustomed to, and he was able to take in the untamed beauty of the wilderness for the first time.

Although the run seemed to stretch on forever, it couldn't have taken them more than thirty seconds to cross the clearing. He panted, leaning up against the bark of a nearby pine and turned his gaze back towards the city. The semi-circular wall stretched as far as he could see in either direction with small fires alight at intermittent points along its crown. Spotting neither excess light nor movement on the ramparts, it appeared that they had made it without being discovered.

"Alright man, I guess it's time for the hard part," said Finn, pulling out a canister of repel from his pocket.

"We should keep following the creek. The water probably attracts some pokémon, and it'll give us a point of reference to make it back to the city," said Alan.

Looking deeper into the forest, he felt a deep unsettling sense of foreboding well up inside him. It was incredibly dark. The trees towered and blotted out much of the moonlight above. The knowledge that he was out there with only repels to protect him from deadly monsters put him on edge.

He probably should have brought a knife, or really anything else that could be used in an emergency.

They began to walk along the bank of the stream, keeping an eye out for any sudden movements. "Have you given any thought to what pokémon you might like to catch?" whispered Finn.

"Are you kidding? We don't have that kind of luxury. If we see anything that seems catchable I'm going for it."

"True enough. I know that, but it's fun to dream. It'd be a shame to come back with something like a rattata. It seems like they're the most common pokémon that Blackthorn gives out in the lotto."

"Not having to wait more than makes up for it. We should probably try to stay quiet though, we don't want to scare anything off." said Alan.

"Yeah, that, or attract anything scary," muttered Finn, thinking of the documentary he'd seen on nocturnal pokémon, and their keen sense of hearing.

The first capture of the night was anticlimactic.

They'd walked without speaking for quite a while, occasionally stumbling on some of the larger rocks that littered the stream bed. With only the sounds of the creek and some nocturnal insects they continued on. It wasn't much later when a crooning sound coming from across the water caught their attention.

Eyes closed, resting against a fallen log, sat a rather small amphibious pokémon, with half of its body hidden in the silty mud. Navy blue with slimy skin, the creature was only about a foot tall and had a spherical body. Its bulbous eyes were closed, and a black and white spiral patterned stomach gently moved up and down in time with its breathing.

As per their agreement, Alan had dibs. The other teen stilled, and held up a hand, signaling Finn to stop.

Finn had to quell a pang of jealousy from rising up. Poliwag could eventually evolve into poliwrath, and he had seen Elite Bruno's destroy plenty of opponents on television. Alan dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a red and white orb the size of an acorn. Clicking a button at the center, he increased the sphere's size to that of an oran berry. Quickly, Alan threw the pokéball.

Finn was tempted to laugh as the ball nearly missed, but luckily for Alan the pokéball slightly grazed the blue skin on the creature's right side causing it to become enveloped in a radiant red light that coalesced into a shining blob. The light then retreated back into the ball, which immediately began shaking violently. This lasted only about three seconds before it fell still.

"Yes!" Alan shouted, wading across the frigid creek to claim his prize.

Alan's sudden shout—while somewhat warranted—instantly put Finn on edge, causing him to glance nervously around the forest.

"Awesome Alan, but really, we should keep moving. That shout probably attracted every predator in the whole forest."

As if on cue, a gruff grunting noise came from their right. About fifty feet down stream stood a massive ursaring on its two hind legs, staring them down. The creature was twelve feet tall covered in thick brown fur with the species' trademark cream colored circle adorning its stomach. Brilliantly white teeth jutted up from the pokémon's lower jaw.

"Hurry it up over there!" Finn said, hastily pulling out a repel canister from his pocket.

The ursaring opened its maw, forming a glowing sphere of energy in its jaws.

With a growing sense of horror, Finn realized what was happening. He had seen it enough times watching Gym leader matches and the Indigo League Championships. Heart hammering in his chest, he broke the seal on the repel and twisted the top with a hiss before throwing the canister as far as he could towards the creature.

"Move, now!" shouted Finn.

As if in slow motion, he saw Alan pick up his pokéball and sprint back across the stream, hopping from rock to rock as the hyper beam impacted the location the other boy had just occupied. The blast knocked both of them off of their feet and into the ground. Steam hissed up from where the edges of the small crater formed by the attack met the water.

Just as the ursaring made to move closer, the repel he'd thrown exploded into a cloud of gas. The fumes quickly dispersed and reached the pokémon, causing it to roar and flee back down the creek.

That had been _entirely_ too close.

The chemical components that made up the repel canister trigger a flight response in all pokémon. Barring a stealth attack, a normal person could travel in the wild so long as they had a sufficient supply of the stuff. Most trainers who took on the Gym circuit carried at least one repel on them in case of dire situations. Finn and Alan had saved up enough for six of the items—now five.

Alan sat for a moment catching his breath, leaning his back against the sandy bank. "Holy shit dude, I can't believe that just happened," said Alan, hands trembling.

The other teen looked shaken, and Finn couldn't help but feel the same. They had almost died, and for what? A chance to leave Blackthorn? Did he really need to leave that badly?

Finn had known of the dangers that they would face in the forest, but they had always been theoretical, something that he would only encounter in the future. Now, with the crater across the creek still smoldering, it was beginning to feel all too real. Every shadow around them seemed more malignant than before, every bramble another point of ambush.

Finn thought about his crappy home life, and his prospects outside waiting on the Blackthorn Gym's lottery system for picking new trainers.

' _Yes, It was definitely worth it.'_

"Do you want to keep going or head back? That was pretty intense," said Finn.

"Um… no—I think I'm alright—but let's head back towards the north. That way if anything happens we are a bit closer to the city," said Alan.

"Sounds good. I'm starting to think we may be a bit in over our heads though. We only have five more of those canisters left. Who knows how many of those things we might run into?"

Alan nodded beside him, remaining oddly quiet. Finn was now all the more aware that his lack of a capture was the only thing keeping them from returning to the relative safety of Blackthorn.

They tracked northward for some time, following the moss covered sides of the towering pines. The landscape became hillier as they moved through the forest. Alan had to use one of his repel canisters when a particularly terrifying ariados descended from a tree above them. Its bulbous spider body was as large as he was, and its clicking pincers were five-inch razor blades. The burst of smoke caused the creature to skitter away into the night, and just like that they only had four of the items left.

Panting as they climbed up a particularly large hill, Finn could hear the sounds of a pokémon battle waging. They were only around two miles from the city, so it was puzzling to think that such a loud battle would be occurring this close by.

He put a finger to his lips in signal to Alan, and then waved for him to follow. The two of them slowly climbed through the underbrush until they reached the crest of the hill.

Peering over the rocky outcrop, the scene below them was both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Illuminated by the moon, a massive herd of donphan, piloswine, and their offspring were being funneled into a valley meadow by a pack of houndour. There were a few other types of pokémon scattered throughout the herd. The jet-black hounds were shooting bouts of fire from their mouths in an attempt to direct the other pokémon into an area that was ideal for an ambush. He could see them fading in and out of the shadows with a startling amount of coordination. The elephantine pokémon were trumpeting in alarm, trying to place their vulnerable young underneath their protective legs. Waves of soil and rock were thrown towards the canine predators, but with little accuracy in the darkness of night.

Overhead, two or three gligar were attempting to get in on the action. One of the flying scorpion pokémon had a writhing bidoof in its pincers as it flew through the trees and off into the night.

This was my chance.

"I think I have a plan," he whispered.

"What? Are you crazy? Even if you managed to catch anything down there how would you get the ball back with all of those pokémon around?" said Alan.

"Simple, I'll throw all three of my pokéballs and then we'll use as much repel as we can manage to scare them all away," Finn replied.

Alan shot him an exasperated look, "That is not _simple_ Finn."

"But it's the best idea we've got," he said, thrusting his arm into his pack and pulling out the three pokéballs, "and I'm more than ready head back to the city."

Finn surveyed the absolute havoc that was occurring not twenty yards away from where he and Alan lay hidden. Houndour were notoriously hard to train, but were undeniably a strong species. He figured it was worth the chance. Finn knew that even if he failed to tame a wild houndour, he could still sell it for a tidy sum and then use the profits to purchase a more reliable starter. Dark types were rare.

He took aim and tossed the ball towards the back of the herd, where the dark type hounds were gathered. Finn watched as the ball got lost in the throng of pokémon. When a young bidoof's body converted into red light, the rest of the pokémon in the clearing visibly recoiled in confusion.

Disappointment gnawed in the back of his mind. Bidoof were not only a common source of food for humans, but percentage-wise, it was right up there with rattata as the starter pokémon that most failed trainers began with. Finn knew that you normally needed to weaken a pokémon before catching one, but bidoof were so weak it shouldn't have been an issue.

It seemed that life was trying to be contradictory, for the capture device again exploded with light as the bidoof fought its way to freedom. Except, when the bidoof reformed itself onto the grass, one of the more opportunistic houndour found it to be easy prey, and scooped it into its flaming jaws.

Finn stared, shocked. Essentially, he had just killed that pokémon. The wilderness was just as unforgiving as he had been taught throughout his childhood. Even though people regularly ate bidoof for food, seeing the food-chain in its gruesome finality gave him pause.

After a second of contemplative remorse, Finn recovered, and primed another pokéball. He couldn't fail this time.

The second attempt didn't even hit a target, but was instead crushed beneath the foot of one of the enormous donphan. The sensor node on the ball hadn't touched the large pokémon before it disappeared from sight.

Intensely aware that he only had one pokéball left, he sat back down and leaned against the boulder that was hiding their location and took a deep breath. Then, he retrieved the last ball from his bag. If this one missed, he was shit out of luck for however long it would take him to make enough money to get another set of pokéballs. His pride wouldn't allow him to ask Alan for one of his leftover balls. They were too expensive and Alan would probably sell the ones he had left to finance his travel to Cherrygrove.

After taking a moment to regroup, he stood from behind the rock and took aim at one of the smaller houndour in the back of the pack. Then, he hurled his last chance into the air.

His aim was off, and the ball went careening towards the group of herbivorous pokémon. In fascination, he watched as the ball arched through the air towards the pandemonium below. The pokéball landed somewhere in the throng, but no burst of red light occurred.

' _Shit_.'

Blood drained from his face as he stared at the spot where the ball had disappeared. He stood still for a moment as the horror of the situation made itself known. Finn would miss the rookie start to the season and his only friends would leave town and start their journeys without him.

Then, a small burst of red light shown from the herd. Something must have brushed past the ball in exactly the right spot, but he couldn't see what creature had been captured.

Finn could hardly believe what had just happened. His first thought was to run down the slope and grab the ball, but knew that would be tantamount to suicide at the moment. He waited for the signs of a failed capture, but there was no second flash of red light.

"Wow, ok, so that just happened" said Alan, shaking his head in disbelief, "So now we start throwing the repels?"

"Erm, I guess—," said Finn, grinning wildly, and grabbed a repel from his pocket. "How many of these do you think it will take? There must be a hundred pokémon down there."

Alan shrugged. "I guess we'll see."

The ruckus caused by the first repel canister was astonishing. A stampede of pokémon charged through the thin trees into the meadow beyond, as it was the path of least resistance. He could feel the earth shaking beneath him as the countless ground type pokémon lost control. Finn saw one bibarel with a houndour clinging to its back for dear life, blood streaming from a maw shaped wound on its neck. The blood that would have looked a crimson during the daytime appeared as a shiny black ichor in the night.

Looking to his right he noticed that the wind had only carried the gas so far, and there were still some unaffected pokémon.

"I'm going to throw one more upwind and then I say we make a run for it back to town. That way we each have one repel left for the way home," he said.

Alan nodded in assent, and Finn primed and then hurled another canister, which prompted a similarly frantic response from the few creatures that remained.

Then, they ran.

Finn quickly jumped up from their vantage point and made a beeline through the still hanging cloud of repel gas for his pokéball. It took him a moment to find the ball which had been embedded in some soft dirt where another pokémon had stepped on it. Luckily, the device had not been crushed like his first ball. Lifting it up and placing it into his bag, he made a silent prayer that the pokémon was something he could work with. He took a glance at his compass and turned northeast where he could see Alan already hurrying along a ridge.

It was five minutes before they realized anything was wrong, but they eventually began to hear yipping and barking coming from behind them. Dark shapes darted through the shadows of the trees. Somehow, the repel from earlier had missed a couple of the houndour and they had decided to pursue the two teenagers. Still running, Alan shouted over to Finn, "Any big ideas buddy?"

Finn looked over his shoulder behind them, panic swiftly setting in as he saw the hellhounds approaching. Their dark fur contrasting with the bone white crests on their foreheads. Ideas came and went in his mind, but Finn knew that the superb maneuverability of the dark type pokémon gave them an incredible advantage over the humans.

"Repels now! We'll need to try and hold onto them while we are running."

Finn pulled his last canister out from his pocked and twisted the cap, and he saw Alan do the same. Up ahead, a canine shape materialized onto a boulder to their right. Just as the repel began to spew its gas, and quicker than he could have imagined the houndour disappeared from the boulder and then emerged from a tree's shadow to his left, and pounced.

Finn covered his face with his arms and felt the razor sharp jaws close over his forearm. A staggering amount of heat sizzled the skin on his arm, and the intense pain was all he could feel in that moment. As the surprising weight of the hound threw him to the ground, he tried to catch himself with his other arm.

Thankfully, the gas from the repel quickly enveloped them and the creature bolted into the nearest shadow, disappearing and loping back to the rest of the pack, which were now turning away from them and running into the night.

Alan ran over to him and checked his arm, which was strangely not bleeding because the hound's jaws had been hot enough to cauterize the wound. Finn shook his head to try and get a hold of himself, but the odd stench of repel mixed with sulfur did him no favors.

His jacket had been burnt off in the shape of the houndour's mouth, and there was a black char outline of the creature's jaws imbedded in Finn's skin. The burning pain was the worst Finn had ever felt in his entire life, and he was struggling to regain his bearings.

"You're lucky, it looks like it pulled back once it got a taste of that repel. I know it sucks, but we're wasting gas. We have to keep moving and get back to Blackthorn and get your arm looked at before something else finds us," said Alan, furrowing an eyebrow as his eyes shifted to look at the surrounding forest.

Finn groaned, and staggered to his feet and began a tentative jog, cradling his injured arm to his chest. Adrenaline was pumping through his body, and each step felt like an eternity, but somehow they made it back to the creek. From there, they made it back to the metal lattice, and then into Blackthorn proper.

Finn could only remember flashes of that last part of the night, but somehow they'd made it back home. Alan had cleaned and bandaged his arm as best he could with their small medical kit, using the only burn heal they had. While burn heals were not strictly meant for human use, it had been somewhat effective. His skin was a bright cherry red and raw where the blackened flesh had peeled away, but it would eventually heal. Finn would need to keep it bandaged for a few weeks. Long sleeve shirts would be a must in order to keep the night's events from Vince, his stepfather.

Finn may not have come out unscathed, but they'd done it, and he couldn't help but grin up at his bedroom ceiling as he drifted to sleep thinking about his newfound independence.


	2. Getting Started

**Chapter 2: Getting Started**

Finn awoke to Vince, his stepfather, shouting up at him from downstairs. With a groan, he wiped the sleep from his eyes and winced as he moved his injured right arm to prop himself up on his bed. The burn heal had helped immensely, but his arm still throbbed with pain.

The light streaming through his window had a filtered quality that usually coincided with the sunrise. It was enough to illuminate the dingy cream colored walls of his bedroom and fill the air with swirling dust motes.

Sliding his legs over the bed and onto the rough carpet of his bedroom, he turned his gaze to a floor length mirror affixed to his closet door. Finn's bedraggled appearance was reflected back at him. During the long mountain winters, Finn normally slept in gray sweat pants and a long sleeve hoodie to keep warm in their poorly insulated home. Finn's dark hair was sticking up at odd angles and deeply set bags had formed under his grey eyes. On his hoodie, he could see some dried blood stains around where the houndour had bitten him. Finn needed to get cleaned up and get some coffee into his system fast.

As he ambled down the stairs he heard Vince yell something from the front door, "—And make some of that pasta that I like for dinner!"

The door slammed shut.

His stepfather was obviously in a hurry. Typically, if Vince had to work on the weekends he would have Finn tidy up the house and make some food so there would be something in the fridge for him to eat when he returned home from work. Ever since his mother had passed away, Finn was largely left to fend for himself. He knew he should be grateful that his stepfather had deigned to keep him around at all, but the constant drinking and yelling sometimes made that thought vanish as swiftly as it came. Thanks to Vince's steady job at the apricorn plant up the road, the KurtCompany owned apartment complex kept a roof over Finn's head.

Lately, his stepfather had been gone most weekends because it was getting closer to harvest time at the farm. Blackthorn had a sprawling agricultural sector in the northeastern part of town. For some reason both black and white apricorns grew exceptionally well in the rocky well-drained soil there. The rain and snow that formed off the steep mountain cliffs kept the plants well watered. White apricorns ripened over winter and were harvested in the spring, which was also the time that the black apricorns began blooming.

This doubled the amount of work in the springtime, as the blooming of the black apricorns added its own complications. Black apricorns were not pollinated by typical bug type pokémon attracted by sweet scented flowers. Black apricorn flowers emitted a pungent dead flesh smell, attracting carrion bug type pokémon such as heracross. Thus, what became famously known to the farmers as 'The Slaughter of Spring' began.

The farmers came together and placed rotting raw meat into the branches of the trees in order to heighten the flower's chances of being pollinated by a scavenger bug type pokémon. The smell was so pungent that it sometimes wafted all the way to their group of townhomes.

The fact that KurtCo let them stay in the townhome so long as Vince worked at the farm was one of the reasons he supposed that Vince had never tried to change jobs or make more money. He had a place to stay, and decent wages. For some, the situation might be considered quite the life.

Finn found it suffocating.

He walked into the small kitchenette and looted the wooden cabinetry for a pot to begin boiling water. From across the room the television Vince forgot to turn off blared loudly, "—And another round of pokémon thefts has taken place in Mahogany town. Leader Pryce is calling out for anyone with information that would help find the perpetrators."

At the mention of pokémon, Finn realized he still had no idea what he had caught the night before. Unfortunately, without a license it was illegal to release a captured pokémon inside of the city. Even with a license, you couldn't keep the more dangerous breeds near population centers. It wasn't worth the hassle of accidentally having something happen when he could just as easily go get his ID updated the Pokémon Center later. Finn quickly turned off the television. It seemed that the reporters always wanted to tell people about something terrible.

If Finn wanted to have any time to work with his newly caught pokémon, he would need to knock out his chores quickly. After placing the now filled pot of water onto the stovetop, he poured himself a cup of lukewarm coffee and sat on the barstool near the small kitchen island.

It was there that he noticed a surreptitiously placed sheet of white paper in the center of the scuffed plastic countertop. Finn glanced at it and sighed. It was an application for a summer job at the farm; something that Vince had made clear that Finn was to do. Vince had even written Finn's name into the blanks at the top for him in his messy scrawl.

As the school year was quickly coming to a close, it was time to make summer plans, and for Vince that meant Finn was to finally start contributing something of worth to the family. Of course, his stepfather was unaware of he and Alan's plans to leave Blackthorn, perhaps for good, in a few short weeks. With no remorse, Finn slid the sheet of paper into the trashcan and went about preparing some breakfast along side Vince's dinner.

As Finn contemplated what he needed to do that day, the full consequences of what had occurred the night before began to sink in. He had almost died on no less than three occasions. Without the repel bottles both he and Alan would have certainly fallen to either the ursaring, ariados, or the pack or houndour.

Now, he would have to try and come up with the cash to get some more repels before he left. He doubted he would be able to train up a pokémon that would keep him entirely safe in the wilderness in just a few weeks. Regardless, that would still need to be one of Finn's first priorities. In the same vein, he was tempted to try to catch a second pokémon before leaving. There was safety in numbers.Finn was hoping that his friends Alan or Orion would consider traveling in a group for a while.

A bubbling feeling of excitement filled him as he realized that he was almost free. He hadn't realized how stressed he had been prior to his and Alan's forest excursion the night before. It sometimes took people years to find a starter pokémon if your family didn't have the funds or inclination to purchase a starter for their child.

This was for many reasons. Trained starter pokémon were tough to come by. If someone was going through the trouble of taming a monster, it was usually going to be for their own benefit. Another reason was resources. Most of the Blackthorn lotto winners were given a pokédex and all of the items they would need for a journey. If Vince had any savings, he was not going to waste it on him.

All Finn had to do was figure out how to tame his his pokémon in time for the League's Rookie Send Off Tournament in Cherrygrove city. Almost all trainers that traveled the Johto region took part in the tournament in their first year. It was a symbol of the beginning season, and there were great prizes for the skilled participants who placed well. The only rules being that the trainers were rookies and hadn't owned their pokémon for more than a six months.

All of this might be easier said than done, as pokémon taming was an objectively difficult occupation by every standard. There was a reason that most trainers failed, and unless you were successful against multiple Gym leaders you were often considered an idealist fool for even trying.Many people likened it to traveling to the Kalos region to try and become an actor in films.

Finn had been studying all he could about pokémon for the past few years, and felt at least somewhat confident that he had a chance. It was enough that he had to try and leave Blackthorn and the monotony of the apricorn fields behind. Hopefully, his friend Orion would have some other suggestions for him when he went to see him at the Gym later. He'd been the one that had tipped Finn off that there was a way to exit the city without having to pass by the guards. 

Finn picked up the house phone to call Alan and see what he was doing. After five or six rings nobody picked up. He left Alan a message letting him know he would be registering his pokémon and stopping by the Gym to see Orion.

By mid-morning Finn found himself walking down the graveled path to the Blackthorn Pokémon Center. He needed to discover what pokémon he'd captured. To do that, he would need to register the pokémon to his trainer ID. Pokémon training licenses were contingent on having a pokémon and passing the TLE (Trainer Licensing Exam). Aspiring trainers had to be at least fifteen years old to take the exam. A few months earlier, Finn had snuck out and taken the exam the week after his birthday. Now that he had a pokémon all he needed to do was register.

The gravel of his neighborhood road gave way to slate colored cobbles and rows of wooden and brick buildings lining the street. People bustled about the street going about their day to day activities. Some of the shops sold household goods or food, and others pokémon supplies.

The Pokémon Center was much less crowded than he had anticipated. The building had a bright red roof to help catch the eye of emergency aircraft and trainers flying in from outside. It only took him a few minutes in line to be greeted by the nurse behind the counter in full hospitality mode.

"Good afternoon, what can I do for you today?" said the nurse. Her bubblegum pink hair was adorned with a red and white nurses cap.

"I'm here to register a new capture, get my pokémon a check up, and update my ID with a pokémon license," said Finn as he handed over the red and white capture device along with his current ID.

The nurse typed for a moment on a computer, and then looked up at him. "It looks like this is your first pokémon?"

"Yes, it was a gift from a family member, but be careful, my uncle said he was a recent capture."

Finn was a terrible liar, but in some cases it was necessary. He'd come up with this story a few weeks prior, and practiced the story in the mirror until it sounded natural.

"Thats funny," said the nurse, whose name tag read 'Joy.' "I had someone around your age come in here earlier with a poliwag that he'd received from his parents. It's probably just the Rookie Festival coming up."

Finn looked uncomfortable for a moment before replying, "Yes—well—I'm hoping to make it down to Cherrygrove for that. We'll have to see how it goes though."

With that, Nurse Joy stated that she would be taking his pokémon to the back for a few minutes to administer a check-up, and if everything was alright, they would be free to leave.

Five minutes later, he was called to the front desk again.

"Well Mr. Abernathy, your swinub is in perfect health. You should know that he is male, and a young one at that," she said with a wink. "Be sure to get some help in taming him though, he's rather rambunctious."

The nurse then slid his newly updated trainer ID across the counter towards him. Trying to suppress his excitement that he had caught something he could work with, he kept his face calm and said, "Thank you, I really appreciate it. And I will!" He quickly grabbed his ID and pokéball and turned to leave.

Finn walked past a few roughshod looking trainers on his way out. They looked as if they had been in the wilderness for weeks, and smelled like it too.

As he exited through the double doors it was as if a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders causing Finn to grin like a maniac.

Finn had some knowledge of the swinub line. They were ice and ground type swine-like pokémon that had the potential to be quite powerful. They were also rather mysterious. In captivity and in the wild it was rare to see the species' final evolved form of mamoswine. He only knew of a few Elites around the world that trained one. There was some catalyst that made piloswine evolve that those trainers kept quiet and that most wild piloswine never came across.

Finn began his treck towards the gym. He passed a couple of shops where he stopped and purchased some pokémon treats and food for ground type monsters. He was honestly bit fearful about his first face to face encounter with his starter. Finn had heard horror stories of how newly caught pokémon could turn on their masters and how ugly it could be. He did not want to face the creature on his own.

That was how he found himself walking over to the Blackthorn Gym. His older friend Orion had been working as an intern under one of the Gym trainers there for the past couple of months. Orion had been the one to suggest that he and Alan undergo their previous night's adventure, and while it had paid off in the end, it had been extremely close to disaster. Finn wasn't sure what to think of that. Had Orion just had an easier time out in the forest than they had? The older boy was sixteen, and had been working at the Blackthorn Gym for a while now in order to get some training experience before he started on his journey. Finn only had a quarter of that amount of time to get ready.

He was jostled out of his thoughts as he almost ran into someone in a bright green jumper. "Hey, watch it!" the person shouted.

Finn then noticed that he had just happened upon the end of a long queue of people that wrapped around the street until it reached the Gym's front doors.

"Sorry sir, but what's going on?" asked Finn.

"Didn't you know? Ian Phipps is taking on Clair for his eighth badge," said the same man he'd almost bumped into.

Furrowing his brow, Finn realized that he had heard that name somewhere before on the television. Something about not having lost against a Gym leader yet, which was incredibly impressive. Gym leaders tiered their pokémon and the strategies that they used depending on how many Gym badges a trainer possessed. Clair was known to only take on seven badge trainer challenges.

The line was wrapped all the way around the slate and cerulean colored building. The building was situated on an island in the middle of a crystal clear mountain lake with a long bridge connecting the gym to the mainland. It took him almost an hour to reach the entrance.

With a bored look, the ticket officer let him in without a fee since the match had been underway for a while now. When Finn finally made it to the battlefield, the large electronic board let him know that the two combatants were both on their last pokémon. The stands were filled with hundreds of spectators clapping and shouting.

The field below was composed of a mixture of compact dirt and a large pool of water. Pockmarks littered the dirt and he could see two exhausted looking pokémon opposing each other. Clair's magnificent dragonair was floating above the pool side of the arena looking slightly worse for wear. It's serpentine blue and white body tapered until it met bright blue crystals at the tip of its tail. Lightning arced between its two feather-like ears as it launched a thunder wave attack at the command of a blue haired beauty.

On the other side of the arena stood a monstrous jynx. Jynx were strange pokémon that took on a startling resemblance to human females with their dark skin and scarlet dresses. He'd heard rumors of people venturing into the ice caverns west of Blackthorn never to return after being taken by one of the reclusive pokémon. The ice type should have had a huge advantage over Clair's dragons, but it looked beaten and battered. Its flaxen hair was matted with blood and it appeared to have a limp. Paralysis seemed to have set in as well because the creature's movements were sporadic and shuffling.

With what appeared to be most of its remaining energy the jynx launched a powerful blizzard attack. The pokémon unleashed a maelstrom of ice and snow from its body, immediately cooling the field. Finn could feel the attack's chill even through the psychic barrier meant to protect the spectators. Through the thick snow of the blizzard attack, Clair's pokémon was obscured from view. When it cleared, the field was covered in several inches of snow and the jynx was on its knees panting, with the dragonair nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a burst of flame erupted from the frozen pool and the blue dragon rose through the newly formed hole in the ice. Looking only the slightest bit sluggish in its movements, the dragonair then reared its narrow head back and spat a massive jet of flame at the ice type monster, ending the battle. All of that had occurred in less than ten seconds.

Taking in the display, Finn now knew that type advantage alone would not be enough to beat the famous dragon Gym leader.

"Well there you have it folks! Ian Phipps's legendary run of Gym wins ends here in Blackthorn. We're all sure to look forward to the rematch in the coming months," a loudspeaker reverberated around the stadium to the cheers of the crowd.

If he could only harness attacks as powerful as those he had just seen, Finn would never feel the fear that he had felt in the forest the night before ever again. With a sense of awe he watched the two trainers shake hands in the center of the arena. Clair with an air of superiority famous of dragon tamers, and Ian with humble grace in defeat.

How long had it taken these two to reach this level?

He knew most trainers that made it to Johto's League tournament had at least been traveling for a couple of years or more, but to win such a championship he thought it had to take more time than that. Rookies that competed in their first year of travel and placed in the top fifty in the League Conference were considered to have put on a spectacular showing. Strong monsters often took quite a long time to evolve into their final forms.

A few minutes later, Finn stood near the Gym's reception desk as the crowds began to disperse and spoke to the receptionist, "Ma'am, do you know if Orion Stripe is in today? I'm supposed to meet him."

"Hmm, give me one moment please," she replied, looking over a pair of dark rimmed spectacles at some files on her computer. "I see he's registered as coming in today. I can give him a call if you like?"

"Yes, thank you," Finn replied.

Moments later a tall broad shouldered teen with messy tawny hair strode out of a staff entrance. He had confident bearing that Finn wished he himself had.

"Finn! What about that battle man? Clair is amazing, isn't she?" he said, Orion's eyes shining in admiration for the dragon type trainer.

"Hey there Orion! Yeah, I only caught the tail end of the battle, but it sure looked to have been a good one."

Abruptly Orion's demeanor changed, and he gave his friend a conspiratorial glance. "Did you two do it then?" he said in a whisper that was clearly heard throughout the room.

Finn grinned broadly and pulled out the red and white orb form his pocket. "I'm all set. Want to help me meet him?"

"Hell yes brother! C'mon lets go to one of the training rooms," said Orion.

The older teen threw his arm around Finn's shoulder causing him to wince in pain. As Orion roughly pulled him along, Finn looked up with a grimace and said, "You know that we almost died like three times last night. It was not nearly as simple as you made it out to be."

Finn pulled his thick long sleeve shirt up to show the alarming red burn mark on his arm.

"Arceus dude, what happened?" Orion said as he pulled Finn's arm closer to get a look at the wound. "Wait here just a second and let me go grab some burn tonic from the back. Nobody here will miss it."

Orion came back a few minutes later looking a bit trepidatious with a squeeze bottle full of burn ointment in his hand. Ignoring his friend's minor change in manner, Finn quickly rubbed the ointment onto his burn. The icy coolness of the tonic soothed Finn's burn, making him feel much better.

"Wow, that stuff really works. Only the best for Clair right?" said Finn.

"Too true, young man," said a regal voice from behind them. A woman in her late twenties strode up to them. She had royal blue hair tied behind her head and aqua eyes to match. For such a small woman, Clair's presence was astonishing. "You know a dragon's fire can sometimes burn hotter even than those pokémon of the fire element."

The woman looked pristine. Not like someone who had just beaten an undefeated gym challenger in a five-six battle minutes before. Finn openly gaped when he saw who had spoken.

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am, I'm Finn Abernathy," he said, extending a slightly trembling hand to shake the Gym leader's. When their hands met, Clair's grip seemed unnaturally strong and she gave him an oddly calculating look.

"Indeed you are. If what Orion has told me is true, you went on quite the adventure last night."

His mind whirled as he darted a look at Orion wondering how things had gone so wrong so quickly. Why did the other teen tell someone in a position of authority about what happened? Did he want Finn to get in trouble? What was going on?

"She was in the medicine locker when I arrived," Orion said with a shrug.

"No need to look so troubled Finn, I merely wanted to check on you and perhaps observe the pokémon you captured," said Clair.

"Finn calm down, Clair knows about how I got my pokémon too," said Orion.

"But—But why? I thought you'd be required to report me or something?"

"Not as such. You are a licensed pokémon trainer now. I am aware of the lottery system's flaws. Adding another to our ranks, in any fashion, is to be celebrated so long as you plan to protect your fellow man and their pokémon companions. I have no complaints when an industrious young person is so determined to become a trainer that one breaks a rule or two. Though, it does seem as if you got yourself into a bit of trouble. A houndour I presume? Or perhaps even a houndoom? How did you escape?"

"Er, we had repels, and we held them while running from a pack of houndour. One of them got me right before the repel went off," Finn replied shakily. "Thank you ma'am, for understanding."

"Not a problem. In fact, I feel a bit responsible. If I had not endorsed young Orion here after he came into the gym looking for an internship, he probably would not have felt confident enough to convince you to try the same endeavor. So in recompense, feel free to come in and use our training rooms anytime you wish until you leave on your journey. I will let the receptionist know to allow you in."

"I—I don't know what to say ma'am, but thank you! It's too much" said Finn, dumbfounded.

"Please, call me Clair. It is no trouble at all. I oversee over fifty aspiring trainers here at Blackthorn Gym. One more will not strain our resources overmuch. Though, I do believe we were on our way to meet your pokémon partner?"

Still in shock over meeting the famous Gym leader, much less gaining access to the Gym. He followed the two until they reached a sandy training enclosure attached to the back of the building.

Finn looked at the two somewhat nervously. "I actually haven't met my pokémon yet so I don't know his temperament or anything. He's a swinub by the way. Could one of you maybe bring out a pokémon before I release him? Just in case," said Finn.

"That's a wise suggestion Finn. Though, young swinub are usually quite docile pokémon. It should be an ideal candidate for a starter. Although, it may be prudent for you to bring out some food to entice it with."

With a flash of light, a young looking dratini appeared next to the blue haired trainer and Orion let out his large geodude. The pokémon's stone covered body materialized onto the ground with a thump.

Finn pulled out some of the ground type pokémon food he had purchased earlier and then took the small pokéball from his pocket and enlarged the orb. This was the moment he had been waiting months for. Holding his breath, he tossed the pokéball ten feet away to give himself a buffer in case the pokémon came out of its ball in a foul temper.

As his pokémon materialized, his first thoughts were that his swinub was extremely small. Finn was not sure how something this tiny could ever protect him from what was out in the wilds.

The ground type stood just over a foot and a half tall and was a little over a foot wide. It half spherical body was covered in shaggy brown fur with seven horizontal darker brown stripes running along its back. Swinub's eyes were almost fully covered by fur and all you could see was its round pig-like nose. The pokémon was kind of cute. It sniffed the ground around it as if confused. Then, Finn tossed some of the pokémon food in its direction.

Noticing Finn for the first time, it squealed loudly and quickly formed a wickedly sharp, if a bit small, icicle around is nose and began charging at Finn. Feeling alarmed, Finn called out in a calming voice, "Hey boy, c'mon, calm down buddy."

He quickly tossed another piece of food right in its path, this time causing the charging pokémon to pause for a moment. It stopped where the food had fallen, allowing the icicle to fall and break into pieces on the floor. The pokémon sniffed at the food before opening its mouth and taking a bite. In an abrupt change of mood, swinub began enthusiastically eating in unmistakable happiness.

Finn glanced at Clair, who motioned with her hand for him to approach the happily munching pokémon. He pulled out some more food and cautiously approached. He used a soothing tone of voice that most people used on their pet pokémon and said, "Hey there little guy, I'm Finn, I'm going to be your trainer. Want some more food? I've got some more food."

The swinub was smarter than he had expected. It knew where the delicious food had first come from and allowed him to come near with more. It even allowed him to scratch at the fur behind its barely noticeable ears, which was surprisingly soft.

After a few minutes where Finn fed the young pokémon and swinub enjoyed some scratches, Clair sauntered over with her dratini.

"That was well played Finn. I always do enjoy watching a new partnership form. Those first moments are often some of the most crucial in a trainer's life. I would like you to continue forming a bond with swinub in this same manner until it comes to look at you as its care provider. I know you are probably eager to begin battle training, but you must refrain from training it for battle until it trusts you completely. It looks like you are well on your way though, and I would imagine that in another couple of days you will have a very malleable pokémon ready to begin training to fight," said Clair.

Finn was still crouched down petting his new friend.

"Thank you so much. I really still can't believe you took time out of your day to help a nobody like me," he said.

"Nonsense. Tasks such as these are a huge part of my job," Clair replied.

Orion came over and said, "It looks like it may have some battling potential too. Did you see that ice it formed over its nose?"

Finn nodded and let out a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I thought he was going to stab me."

"I believe that was an extremely rudimentary form of the move icicle crash. This swinub certainly must have had some exotic parents, for I do not believe swinub learn that move naturally here in Johto," said Clair. "There was that fiasco with the Safari Zone a decade back, where some foreign pokémon were released into the forests surrounding Blackthorn, but I cannot be sure if that is the source of this anomaly. I may need to consult with Pryce over this. Nevertheless, such a strong move will not be very effective until it evolves, but it is something you can focus on when training. With time and practice it will help increase the efficacy of its other ice type moves until your swinub has sufficient acumen to use the move properly."

Finn was amazed that the Gym leader could deduce all of that out from spending just minutes with his pokémon. Her tone and manner of speech just screamed high class.

"I must take my leave now boys. There is a post-battle press conference taking place shortly. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon," she gave Finn a shrewd look and a small smile, "I am interested to see how you progress Finn."

The dragon mistress strode out of the room seemingly sucking some of the majesty out of the air with her passing.

"So, are you going to name him?" asked Orion abruptly. "You know my geodude goes by Ajax."

Upon hearing his name, Ajax slammed his two giant rock hands into each other as if it was ready for battle. A nickname sounded like a good idea, but he had not put much thought into it before. Finn thought for a moment in silence before looking down at the still squirming pokémon below him.

"How about Felix, buddy? Does that sound alright? Felix?" he said.

The pokémon made no changes in its movement at all, still enjoying Finn's pats and scratches. He figured the name might need to be enforced through repetition then.

"I think you lucked out a bit catching a big ole softy. Ajax kept attacking me for days after I caught him. It took over a week of just releasing him from his pokéball and returning him until he caught on that I was in control," said Orion.

"Wow, I didn't know that. Maybe that's part of its rock type nature? To be obstinate?" said Finn.

"I dunno about that, but he's caught on pretty well these past couple of weeks," said Orion.

Finn got up from his crouch and reluctantly picked up his pokéball.

"Anyway, I guess Clair might be right about this bonding process though. For some reason I thought we'd be practicing battling today, but it seems that will have to wait for a few days."

"Well if we're not training, why don't we go and grab some food to celebrate? My treat?" asked Orion.

Not really wanting to go back home, Finn agreed. He returned Felix and the two trainers turned to leave the training area. They moved through a hallway and into the reception area. The receptionist from earlier with the nerdy glasses stopped the two before they could leave the gym.

"Leader Clair has asked me to inform you that you are now registered with the Gym as a trainee and can use our training facilities and equipment," she said. She then handed him a swipe card so that he could have access.

"Leader Clair also instructed me to give you this."

The receptionist handed Finn a small package and then resolutely turned back to her computer.

Trying not to take offense at the abrupt dismissal, Finn tore the box open to reveal a set of six poke balls in plastic molds. Gaping, he turned to Orion.

"What is this?"

"Oh wow, she must've really liked you. Clair gives out a set to everyone who trains here, but I thought it was only for people like me who have an actual internship," said Orion.

"This costs as much as I've made over the past few months in total, and she just gives it out?"

Orion laughed, "Yep, perks of being rich and famous I guess?"

Still in a state of shock, he placed the balls into his bag. Then the two trainers left the Gym. They stopped at a nearby burger joint that was packed with spectators from the earlier battle.

Once seated, Finn relayed to Orion the events of the night before. In response, Orion reluctantly told him that when he'd journeyed into the forest, the most dangerous thing he'd encountered was one large gligar that was more interested in the granola bar Orion was eating than in him, and that he'd found his geodude Ajax quickly afterwards. His journey had been relatively tame in comparison to Finn and Alan's with no death defying uses of repel items.

It made him feel a bit better about his opinion of Orion's character. While they had been friends for a while, after Finn had almost died out in the forest he was questioning why Orion had suggested they go outside the wall for a pokémon at all. It seemed that the older teen just didn't know how dangerous it could be.

The two made plans to train together at the Gym when Felix was ready in a few days. The trainer Orion was interning for, Cody, was apparently out of town that week taking an ACE Trainer certification test.

Overall, the afternoon had been like a dream. He had met one of his idols and gained access to a fantastic training space with equipment and support. Even though there had been a few chaotic moments, he was beginning to form a bond with Felix who apparently was able to use a rudimentary form of a powerful exotic attack. To top it off his burn had almost completely faded from his arm after using the Gym's burn ointment. At last, he was making tangible progress towards his goals of completing the Johto Gym circuit.

The sun was setting when he reached the townhome he and Vince lived in. One home over, an older gentleman in a rocking chair was teetering back and forth on the front stoop. Finn waved at him and walked into the house. Looking into the fridge he noticed the pasta he had made was still untouched. Exhausted after having barely slept the night before, Finn tossed his bag onto the kitchen table and headed upstairs to his room to get some sleep.

Before falling asleep, Finn fed Felix and probably overindulged the overexcited pokémon's need for petting. Finn was surprised by how quickly he and the small pokémon were forming a bond. He placed Felix's ball under his pillow and went to sleep.

The next time he awoke it was again to his stepdad screaming at him from downstairs.


	3. A Rough Road

**Chapter 3: A Rough Road**

It was 1:30 am, and a bleary eyed Finn looked on as an at least partially intoxicated Vince ranted. Gesticulating wildly, Vince's plump face wiggled as he spoke. Red blotches were quickly forming in odd places all over the older man's face.

"When I get home from work, all I want to do is sit down on the couch with some food and a cold beer, is that too much to ask? Now, here I am. I get home and find your application to the farm in the trash. The application that I had to ask a favor from a friend to get. Then, I look and see your stuff all over the kitchen counter. Low and behold I find _six_ brand new pokéballs in your bag. Where did you get such expensive items young man? What were you planning on doing with them? Did you steal something—you little—"

Finn threw up his hands trying to forestall Vince's anger. "No, of course not! But the real question is why were you looking through my things Vince?"

"You better speak to me with respect young man! Who're you kidding? I know you can't afford a six pack of brand new pokéballs. So where'd they come from?" said Vince, completely ignoring his trespass into Finn's bag.

After a moment, Finn decided honesty might be the best course of action.

"Leader Clair gave them to me," he said, watching as the words flummoxed his stepfather.

Vince froze for a second before his forehead scrunched up in anger. "Now I won't tolerate lying in my home! Why would a lady like that even notice an urchin like you?"

Finn could not control it anymore. He was tired of putting up with Vince's bullshit, it was 1:30 in the morning, so he decided to go for the jugular.

"Because she saw me with my pokémon and saw potential. Just like mom would have done," said Finn, watching as the older man appeared to quickly sober up.

"Out," said Vince, his voice a harsh whisper. A shaking finger was pointing towards the door. "Only bums and sad dreamers go for that profession. If you're so keen on battling monsters, I want you out of my house right now. I've put up with you for too long." Looking defeated, Vince nodded his head up at the stairs. "Go get your stuff."

Finn was too tired to complain, and too annoyed to argue. He couldn't really comprehend Vince's reaction. Finn was used to anger and threats, but the sound of defeat in his stepfather's voice gave him some pause as he grabbed his pokéballs and bag and headed upstairs to pack. He gave an internal shrug; one odd reaction from the man would not change his mind. It was well past time to leave this place and Felix had finally given him the courage he needed to do so.

After packing up all he could in the traveling pack he had hidden in his closet waiting for this day, he found himself on the street with all that he owned in one piece of luggage.

This was what it was to be a trainer.

His options were either trying to wake Alan or Orion and seeing if they wouldn't mind if he crashed with them for a little while, or the Pokémon Center. At this time of night he opted for the latter. For one, he didn't own a cell phone. On the other hand, in most major cities the League funded Pokémon Centers. This meant that all registered trainers could stay in the rooms for a maximum of three nights every two weeks rent free. Three nights was more than enough time for him to figure something out.

Being a trainer in Johto was not all fun and free stays at the pokémon hospital though. The League mandated that all newly registered trainers complete at least two Gym challenges within one year so as not to abuse their new privileges. Additionally, depending on skill level, if called upon trainers in Johto were required to help defend cities from the threats of rogue pokémon and swarms.

Twenty minutes later he was at the Pokémon Center and had a bed in a twelve person communal living space. The Center did have single bedroom options, but they cost money.

The next morning he awoke to another trainer chastising their irate furret. The ferret-like normal type pokémon was loudly chittering at its trainer, a pretty blonde haired teen. The creature was animatedly pointing at the berry in her hands.

With a groan, he decided it was time to start his day. Not wanting to waste any time, he headed to the Gym to get to know Felix a bit better. As Clair had suggested, he did not plan on training him in any of his attacks yet, but maybe a few basic commands would not hurt.

By mid afternoon Finn was coming to realize how intelligent the small swinub was, and that Clair had yet again been right. The ground type seemed to be a great starter pokémon with a happy disposition so long as he had some food around. It was not at all like training an obstinate and proud dragon or a conniving ghost. Finn often had to share the training room with young gym trainers and their pokémon. Earlier, he had seen a beautiful dratini try and bite its trainer's hand off for giving the pokémon a wrong look.

Some more time went by, and he was able to gain Felix's trust and the swinub began to respond to Finn's commands with little prompting. Felix had learned not only to recognize its name, but to come when called, and what "no" meant. Finn had always known pokémon were usually pretty smart, but Felix seemed to pick up human language extraordinarily fast.

That is not to say that Felix was always on task. When the small creature was ignoring him, Felix tended to cover himself in the sand and dirt that made up the Gym training room floor, with only his eyes and snout appearing above the surface. Felix even occasionally sent jets of snow at his face and then disappeared underground with a squealing laugh. Rather than annoy Finn, these antics made him feel confident that the little swinub could battle. At this rate, Finn felt like he could begin testing Felix's moves the next day.

Finn should have probably called Alan for help or asked for Orion while at the Gym, but he decided that he wanted to train Felix one on one for the next couple of days. He began a routine that had him waking up early, and spending most of the day training. They focused on Felix's basic ground and ice type attacks as well as his endurance.

It had been rewarding to say the least. Felix now responded to the attack commands "powder snow" and "mud slap," which the books he'd read said were common attacks that most young swinub knew. Even though Felix could now respond to attack commands, the powder snow was mostly slush and thrown with little force. The mud slap was more of a joke than an attack, but it was a start. Something to work with.

On the morning after his last night at Pokémon Center Finn found himself again at the Gym.

"I want you to make snow harder Felix—like when we first met! Remember? Try and send it faster towards the target," said Finn.

Felix's round pink nose twitched and he jumped up on his hind legs and and came down again before releasing a stream of sharp pieces of condensed snow and ice towards the target. A couple of the pieces even embedded into the wooden target. With a squeak, Felix scurried over to Finn and rubbed its head up and down against his shins as if knowing he had done a great job. Kneeling down, Finn scratched his ears and dropped a pokémon treat onto the ground. "That was perfect! Nice going buddy!"

Finally having a technique that may pose a threat to an opposing pokémon made Finn feel more confident. It was later, after he had joined Felix for some endurance training racing back and fourth across the gym training room, when a familiar figure walked in.

"So, this is where you've been hiding?" said Alan, Orion walking in behind him.

Breathing deeply trying to catch his breath Finn smiled and walked over to his friend. He gave both of them a quick hand slap and half hug. "Hey guys! Yeah, I kinda wanted to try the beginning stuff on my own. Sorry I haven't called yet, but I sort of got kicked out of Vince's when he found out about Felix here," he said, pointing down at the still panting swinub.

"Oh damn, that sucks man. But swinub are awesome pokémon, I'm glad you caught something not terrible. So, you've been staying at the Pokémon Center?" asked Alan.

"Yep, last night was it for my free stays there though," said Finn.

"Well, I know Alan doesn't really have room for anyone else, but I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind if you crashed on the couch for a week or so before we leave for Cherrygrove," said Orion.

"Seriously? Because I _do_ have a tent?" Finn let out a laugh.

"Absolutely, I'll call them later. Anyway, we actually came to see if you wanted to go on a bit of an adventure today? I saw Alan at the training fields over on Blackberry Street and we got to talking. He proposed we go and catch second team members? We figured with all three of us, it would mitigate the danger a bit."

Finn contemplated for a moment. While he had only just reached a solid level of understanding with Felix, he _had_ wanted to catch something else before leaving solely for the safety it would provide.

"Yeah, I'm in. But I'll need to go to the PokéMart first to get some items first," said Finn.

Finn sold three of the pokéballs Clair had given him in exchange for two repels and a low level healing potion. He'd only gotten such a good exchange because the balls were brand new. Finn didn't want to leave Blackthorn's walls without any repels after their last excursion. Hopefully having three people with accompanying pokémon would be enough to keep most of the wild pokémon at bay.

Leaving Blackthorn in the middle of the day was quite different than he and Alan's last experience. The men guarding the exit of the city were friendly. After the three teens told them of their plans, each of them was given a small electronic beacon that they could turn on in case of an emergency. They were warned that once they traveled outside of Blackthorn's jurisdiction, they would be on their own. The beacon simply could not reach that far. Additionally, the guards told them that they would send someone out to look for them if they did not return after two days.

The fields of tall grass that surround Blackthorn swayed in the light spring wind as the three teens trod down a worn dirt path. Finn released Felix so he could walk beside him as they made their way towards Route 45 south of town. Alan had his poliwag, which he'd named Seymour out walking with him. The water type seemed attached the Alan, which had to be a good thing.

To the north of town, Riverhead falls flowed into the Blackthorn river, which flowed through town and south into Route 45. So it was likely that the group would at least tangentially follow the river south on Route 45, for there were always pokémon in abundance around water.

Finn would like to catch a water type pokémon so that he and his team could produce their own water, but he wouldn't say no to a fire type. Using matches got old very quickly when trying to start fire from moist tinder or in the rain.

There was some old wisdom that a traveling trainer should always have a pokémon that could help find water, a pokémon that could start a fire, a pokémon for distance transport, a pokémon that could deal damage to multiple targets at once, and a pokémon that could hunt for food. Forming a team within these categories helped ensure the survival of the pokémon trainer. Finn had always thought it sound advice.

They followed a path of compact dirt and rock that trailed next to the river. Blackthorn was situated in a valley, so the path went right into the pine covered foothills of a large row of mountains. Sometimes the three teens would be forced to follow the path up some switchbacks in order to traverse the rugged terrain.

To Finn's right, a scrubby bush began to shake and a rattata appeared on the path in front of them. The small rodent pokémon twitched its whiskers and bared its elongated sharp front teeth at the three teens.

"I've got this! Felix, use powder snow," said Finn, pointing.

The swinub let loose a burst of icy projectiles at the rattata, whose speed allowed it to dodge most of them. It responded by moving so fast it almost disappeared and tackling Felix in his side. Skidding back, Felix looked more pissed off than hurt. Without command, Felix threw the largest glob of mud that Finn had seen the young pokémon produce so far at the rattata. The mass of dirt hit the pokémon square in the face, knocking it out.

"Way to go, buddy!" said Finn, gazing proudly down at Felix.

"Nicely done. Felix has some spunk, huh?" said Alan.

None of their party wanted to catch the creature and they weren't planning on eating it, so they dragged the pokémon over to the bush that it had come from. In time it could recover on its own.

We continued following Route 45 for over and hour. At one point, Alan ran into a clearing in the trees and had come back smiling and holding up a pokéball. He'd managed to catch a snover that had been blending in with the surrounding pines. Apparently, the tree-like grass and ice type pokémon hadn't given his poliwag too much trouble. Finn had seen a fully evolved abomasnow before, and they were formidable.

They came to a river bend where a rock formation jutted out over the rushing river, where Orion suggested fishing. The older boy snagged a scarlet magikarp not long afterwards. His geodude, Ajax, didn't even have to battle the flopping fish pokémon.

"I thought the plan was to avoid catching things that are common food for both humans and pokémon," said Finn, monotonously.

"I'm going to figure out the secret to evolving a gyarados and this little guy is going to win me the League!" said an enthusiastic Orion.

"But how are you even going to battle with it?" asked Alan.

"Don't you mind yourself about that, I'll figure it out," said Orion.

Finn scratched the back of his head as he eyed the magikarp flopping on the dirt before them, the red scales along its gills moving up and down as it tried to find some oxygen. The creature's eyes seemed devoid of any consciousness. "I look forward to seeing how you do with that, my friend, but for now, either return it or put it in the water, it's suffocating!" said Finn.

The mapped out routes definitely felt as if they were safer than just traveling around in the forest like he and Alan had done before. So far, they'd yet to see any pokémon that they needed to use a repel to flee from. The modest foot traffic from trainers and Ranger patrols must have kept much of the more dangerous beasts away.

After they had continued down the path for a while longer the ground beneath them began to shake, sending the three teens to the ground in a heap. Dry pinecones rained down on them from above as the trees swayed, and they heard many bird pokémon take flight. A massive rock crashed through the underbrush to their left tumbled past them and rolled to a stop just before the river's edge.

Earthquakes were exceptionally rare in the mountains around Blackthorn, so the teens were a bit confused.

"Holy crap, that rock almost hit us. What do you think just happened?" asked Finn, pulling himself to his feet.

"Maybe some strong ground type pokémon is angry?" said Orion.

"I don't know, it would have to be incredibly strong for its attacks to be felt like this. Or really close by," said Alan.

The wobbling trees were just beginning to still when a a cluster of pink objects fell from above into the center of the dirt path. Five distinctly egg-like shapes rolled away from each other, and then, as if magnetized began to pull back together into a cluster. It was a pokémon that looked to be composed of broken eggs with eyes and small mouths. An exeggcute. These were uncommon psychic and grass type pokémon. The pokémon appeared to be a bit dazed from the fall.

"Felix, quick! Powder snow," called Finn.

The grass type, which were especially vulnerable to ice type attacks, was knocked back by the sharp pieces of ice and snow. In a rush, Finn enlarged one of his pokéballs and tossed it at the creature. A tense moment later, it was captured.

"Wohoo, we did it fellas!" said Finn with a grin.

"Nice job, a grass type should complement Felix quite nicely," said Alan. "I think you may have gotten a bit lucky that it was so confused after falling from the tree though. It didn't put up much of a fight. Also, it seems odd that an exeggcute would be here at all. Aren't they more suited to the warmer climates south of here?"

"Yeah that is weird. It's definitely something to look into later, but at least if you manage to get it to evolve exeggcutor are great battlers," said Orion.

"I'll cross that bridge when it comes, I'm just happy to have more firepower," said Finn. "Maybe one day it'll be able to teleport me around Johto too."

"Do you guys want to head back? I kind of want to try my luck and catch something else. Magikarp won't be very useful for a while," said Orion.

They decided to follow the path for a bit longer and see what they found. This turned out to be a mistake.

A group of three people dressed in dark trench coats walked up the path towards them. On the left was a young woman with pink hair, in the middle was an older gentleman with a bristly white mustache, and to the right was a brown haired man with a crooked nose. They each looked a bit worse for wear, but their bearing was one of self-assurance, like they knew they were in no danger. The one with the messed up nose actually had a trail of blood running down his face. When the three newcomers noticed Finn's group, they stopped.

"Well I'll be, didn't expect to see a group of kids out here today. Thought all the commotion might've sent all you newbies running scared," said the white haired older man in the center, his Olivine accent coming through strongly.

"Oh, hello there! Are you saying you know what caused that earthquake earlier?" said Orion, seemingly not picking up the same dangerous vibes from the other three trainers that Finn was.

"Hey dude, I think we should just let these guys pass," said Finn, beginning to wave with his hands. "Come on through!"

"We'd be happy to, of course," said the pink haired woman. "After you hand us over your pokémon."

Her last words hung in the air like fog. A bit shocked at their audacity, Finn clenched his fists together in anger. He just seemed to have all of the luck. Of course they meet pokémon thieves on their first sanctioned trip out onto one of the routes. There was no way he was giving up Felix to these people. Felix seemed to feel the same way because the small ground type snarled at the woman, showing an unusual aggressiveness. Ajax and Seymour had similar reactions.

"Not a chance," said Alan.

"Well, then we'll simply take them then," said the guy with the blood on his brow. He then reached a hand into his trench coat and pulled out a gray, yellow, and white pokéball and dropped it to the ground. It was an ultraball, which were only used to capture powerful creatures.

In a flash of light, a giant crustacean pokémon appeared. Its chitinous body was a cherry red and there was a bright golden star adorning its head. The creature's eyes were raging with malevolence. It was clear that the pokémon was not in perfect health, but that did not change how much more obviously powerful it was than any of the three teen's monsters. After a command from its master, a wall of water rose from the river behind the crawdawnt and was sent rushing towards Finn, Orion, Alan, and their pokémon.

In his youngest form, Felix was a mostly ground type oriented pokémon, and would not be able to take a hit like that without serious damage. As fast as Finn could he pulled out Felix's ball and returned him and put his ball into one of his large pockets. Now faced with a bubbling wall of water rushing towards him, his instincts screamed at him to run. Barely sparing a glance at his other friends, he sprinted to his right and jumped into the swift moving current of the Blackthorn river.

The water felt like knives inserting themselves all over his skin. Recent snow melting from the surrounding peaks made it so that the water was incredibly cold, but swimming was one thing that Finn had always prided himself good at. He formed paddles with his hands and with some quick strokes pulled his head back over the top of the fast moving current. As the frothing torrent of water drove him forward, Finn oriented his body so that his stomach faced towards the sky. His arms were out to his sides, forming rudders to help keep him in a steady position in the water.

The current had pushed him so far that he could no longer see the group at the shore. Finn's mind was racing. He had just left Orion and Alan to fend for themselves, but his major problem was the all consuming cold. His arms felt like they were burning and at the same time little needles were inserting themselves all over his body. For the moment, his water resistant pack was acting as a life-preserver.

Finn had to get to shore and fast. With all the willpower he possessed he started a poliwhirl stroke, his arms growing heavy with exertion. Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly until he made it to a sandy cove where a giant boulder had formed a protective eddy from the raging water.

Taking deep breaths and shivering uncontrollably, he took out the emergency beacon that the rangers had given them before leaving the city and pressed it for ten seconds. It began to flash a small red pin point of light every few moments. In his pack he had some fire starting material and some extra clothes that were hopefully somewhat dry, but no wood. He released Felix.

"Felix, ca—can you go gather some dry wo—wood for burning please?" said Finn, teeth chattering.

Five minutes later Finn had a fire going, but his body was still sluggish and shivering. Even after changing into his only slightly damp extra set of clothes, he still felt numb. Thankfully, Finn's pack had helped to keep most of his stuff dry. He laid out his soaked clothes next to the fire, and sat there soaking up the heat with his hands folded under his armpits to conserve warmth. Felix was still scurrying back and forth from the woods with sticks as big as he could carry in his tiny jaws.

It took another five minutes before he felt somewhat normal again.

"Great job Felix, I think you might've just saved my life," said Finn. Felix let out a concerned huff and continued back into the forest to gather more firewood. Finn was a bit touched by how distressed the little pokémon was for him after only knowing him a few days.

As Finn was beginning to wonder where the rescue Rangers were, Felix hurried back and started stamping the ground and pointing his nose up the hill from the river bank, indicating that Finn should follow.

Finn trekked after Felix as quickly as he could, but he was still moving slowly after his cold water swim. They moved passed the trail that marked Route 45 and continued until they stopped in a rocky clearing where the evidence of a pokémon battle was evident. Trees were knocked over, and some of the spring grass was charred where some fire attack had hit.

What they found made bile rise up in his throat. In the center of the clearing lay a six foot long grayish-purple oval shaped mass. The color was hard to tell because the pokémon was covered in shiny red blood, and the grass surrounding was an absolute nightmare. This must have happened recently, as the body of this pokémon was still warm enough to let off steam in the cool afternoon sun.

Finn slowly approached. As he neared, he finally recognized what it was. A pupitar, the second evolutionary stage in the tyranitar line. One of the most powerful and rare pokémon that exist in nature, barring legendary monsters. The pupitar was mutilated. Where spines normally lined the crest of the pokémon's head were now stumps. Along its middle was a ten inch long crack where its bodily fluids leaked out. Poachers had come for its spines and had killed the pokémon in the attempt. Finn could no longer hold it back and retched into the grass next to him.

"Oh Felix, this is awful," said Finn, wiping bile off his chin. "This pupitar must have been what caused the earthquake. I bet it was those bastards on the route."

Felix bumped into his pant legs a couple of times, motioning for Finn yet again. He followed the swinub until it went up to the pupitar's prone form and lifted it up with his head. Underneath lay a small olive green oval stone. An egg.

It was absolutely absurd, and made no sense.

The poachers had come and performed such an abominable act, and had left a priceless larvitar egg untouched? Finn bent down and picked up the egg. It was much heavier than he thought it should be for its size and its texture was of polished granite. The egg's shell was only slightly warm to the touch. Not being sure if its temperature was a good or a bad thing, he placed it underneath his shirt to attempt to maintain its temperature.

Finn was conflicted. If he could raise a larvitar, it would make his dream of battling in the Johto Pokémon League that much more likely than it would have been. But this was disgusting, and taking an egg from a poached pokémon felt wrong on so many levels.

He was pulled out of his musings by a thunderous screech from above. Quickly pulling out a repel from his pocket, Finn readied himself for a fight. It was needless, as a giant fearow landed ten feet in front of him and lowered its body so the Ranger on top could climb down.

"Trainer please recall any pokémon you have outside of their pokéballs," said the Ranger. She had blonde hair tied back into a neat tail behind her head, and a compact body that probably came from disciplined physical training.

Finn recalled Felix, and held one of his hands up, the other wrapped around the egg underneath his shirt. "Hey there, I was the one who used the beacon!" said Finn.

"My name is First Ranger Stephanie Pearl. What is your name trainer?"

"Finn Abernathy. I called you here because my friends and I were attacked by some trainers further up Route 45. I had to jump in the river to escape," said Finn.

The Ranger took in Finn's disheveled appearance and still damp hair and sighed. "That looks to be the case. Tell me everything."

It took some time to recount what had happened that afternoon. Finn relayed his suspicions that the people who had attacked them were the ones who had poached the pupitar in front of them. Ranger Pearl seemed to be just as disgusted by the poaching as Finn was. Her face was upturned, and a steely glint appeared in her blue eyes. The Ranger then pulled out a red device and typed in some numbers.

"Base this is Beta Epsilon, we have a case of assault and poaching out on Route 45. Please send back-up to my location," she said, then turned to Finn. "We will do our best to stop those responsible for this. Can you describe them in detail for me?"

Finn did as she asked.

"Have you heard from my friends yet? Their names are Alan O'Toole and Orion Stripe."

"Two other beacons were activated this afternoon, but I am unsure if they were your friends. Don't worry yourself, we will find them," said the Ranger.

He then decided to ask for advice to his moral dilemma. Finn pulled the small olive colored egg from underneath his shirt. The Ranger gasped and put a hand over her mouth.

"My swinub was gathering wood for my fire when he found the pupitar and this egg," said Finn. "I feel uncertain about reaping personal gain from pokémon poaching though. Even if it was someone else that was responsible."

"Kid, I know about a thousand trainers who would have no such compunctions," said Ranger Pearl. "Look, if that is a viable larvitar egg, you could sell it for a small fortune. I know you may feel a bit uneasy about it, but I have no qualms about you keeping that egg. The egg would very likely never hatch without a parent in the wild. If I may though, it might be smart if you hide the fact that you found it or what type of pokémon it is. Just having a newborn larvitar as a young trainer might put a target on your back from some unsavory characters. If you do decide to keep it, I would wait until you have a few badges before using it in a battle in front of people other than those that you trust."

Finn had just placed the egg inside some warm clothes in his pack when two more Rangers arrived at the scene. A statuesque xatu materialized from thin air with two male Rangers. After speaking with Ranger Pearl, they walked over to Finn, who had started to shiver again after so long standing still.

"Listen Finn, we're going to have Xatu here teleport you back to the Blackthorn Pokémon Center so that you and your pokemon can get a check up. We're going to stay and try and find your friends. You said they were north of here along the route, correct?"

Finn nodded and said, "Can you grab my things down by the river?"

They agreed, and the last thing he saw before being teleported away was the two new Rangers releasing a large arcanine and mightyena. Finn blinked and was then standing in the atrium of the Blackthorn Pokémon Center, where the nurse on duty rushed over to see to him. They gave Finn a bed in the human part of the hospital and took Felix as well as his egg for a check up.

When Finn woke up the next morning, an IV was attached to his left arm. He looked around the room and spotted Felix's pokéball on his bedside table as well as the larvitar egg nestled into an egg incubator. His pack, where his captured exeggcute lay in its pokéball in a pocket, was in the corner of the room as well. Then, Nurse Joy, whom he'd met earlier in the week, came into the room. With a matronly smile she said, "Good morning Finn, you've had a rough go of it recently havent you?"

"Good morning ma'am," said Finn, still a bit groggy from the cocktail of drugs he'd been given to help with hypothermia. "I guess so. Any words about my friends? Are they safe?"

* * *

 **Finn's Team:  
** Felix - Swinub  
Exeggcute  
Unknown Egg (suspected to be a Larvitar)


	4. Overcoming Adversity

**Chapter 4: Overcoming Adversity**

"Mr. Stripe and Mr. O'Toole were found a bit roughed up along Route 45 not long after you were brought to the Pokémon Center Mr. Abernathy," said the nurse.

"So they're okay then?"

"We sent them home after a brief check-up, but they were quite distraught after having their pokémon taken from them by those thieves."

Finn put his face into his hands and let out a breath. "Ho-Oh, that's awful. I need to go see them."

The guilt he felt for running was starting to form a hole in his gut. 

Nurse Joy looked at him sadly for a moment before coming and sitting in a chair by his bed. The dark circles underneath her eyes spoke to long hours without sleep.

"I'm sorry about your friends Finn, but you need to think about yourself for a moment. While you're okay now, you did not come here without reason. Any longer in that water and there could have been some serious repercussions. You're extremely lucky that you had a waterproof pack and had the ability to make fire so soon after the exposure. No more swimming in the Blackthorn river young man. At least not in April."

He promised, and was told that he could check out if he wished. The nurse also told him that the egg was viable, even though she could not tell what pokémon would hatch from it. She'd placed the egg in a league standard egg incubator, which Centers were authorized to loan out to trainers. Finn thanked her profusely as the nurse handed him a small booklet on pokémon egg care.

Finn could hardly believe that he had a larvitar egg. He could count on one hand the number of trainers that had one of the ferocious species on their teams in either Kanto or Johto. The larvitar line was exceptionally hard to breed in captivity and almost impossible to find in the wild. He was still dumbfounded that the poachers had missed it. And why hadn't they just captured the pupitar rather than butchering the poor monster?

For a moment Finn contemplated selling the egg. With the proceeds, he could probably fund his entire journey and maybe even purchase some other powerful similarly pokémon. There would be all kinds of buyers. Pokémon researches would kill to study a larvitar from birth, and any number of famous trainers on the circuit had the wealth required to make such a purchase. On the other hand, what kind of trainer would Finn be if he said no to the challenge of raising such a powerful pokémon?

As it turned out, things had not gone well for Orion and Alan. The crawdaunt's attack had overwhelmed them, and only Seymour, Alan's poliwag, was available to continue the battle afterwards. Neither of the boys had been dumb enough to use their new captures yet. After that, it hadn't taken long for the thieves' massive crustacean pokémon to take little Seymour out. Then, the thugs proceeded to relieve his friends of their pokémon and valuables. They even took Orion's magikarp.

The events of the past couple of weeks weighed heavily on Finn's mind.

For the past year, he'd always had the goal of making it to the Cherrygrove Rookie Tournament and catching the attention of the world. Now, he just felt powerless. Both times he had left the safety of the city, he had been unable to defend himself well enough to travel unmolested. It was enough to make him pause on his plans for Cherrygrove.

If he wasn't strong enough to travel with his friends through Route 45, then he might as well stay in town until he was. If he could strengthen up Felix and his new exeggcute to a level where he felt more comfortable then it was worth it to be a latecomer to the League season. There were always tournaments going on, the Cherrygrove Rookie Tournament was just one of the most televised and had the best prizes.

Teleportation was an option, but it was expensive and not worth the cost at the moment.

There was also the fact that he didn't want to leave Alan and Orion to fend for themselves. While Finn knew that he would eventually end up traveling and training on his own at some point, he was the only one of them that had a pokémon, which meant that he could help his friends capture new starters. He was also feeling a bit down about his decision to jump into the river without even attempting to battle the thugs. While he knew it was probably the only thing that had saved Felix and his exeggcute from the same fate, it still felt wrong. Finn wasn't hardwired to run from a fight. He wasn't even sure why he'd done it in the first place. It had just been a natural instinct. 

It would be painful for them, but the rangers had no leads on the trench coat wearing trio. Orion had been training his geodude Ajax for a long time and he knew they had a strong bond. While Seymour had only been Alan's partner for a few days, he could tell that having his pokémon taken away would be devastating to the other boy. This was especially true because they had taken his remaining repels and other traveling equipment.

There was also the matter of Finn training his newly captured exeggcute to see what its capabilities were. The species was an odd one. All of their heads had a consciousness that could use psychic power and together they could amplify that power into something stronger. Since the heads didn't grow at the same rate, one head was usually the smartest, most mature, and made decisions for the others. Once they grew to an unspecified size they were usually ready for evolution. Evolution happened in nature, but could be forced via a leaf stone by a trainer.

Finn decided then and there that he would take the next few weeks to train his team and maybe try to make some money battling trainers at the training fields over on Blackberry Street.

The training fields were a place where trainers could congregate and pose friendly wagers over pokémon battles within the city. It was one of the few places aside from Clair's Gym where people could battle within the city's walls. There were many unspoken rules there. For example, a zero badge trainer could only battle with other trainers of the same level or one badge higher.

He borrowed a phone from the Center and called Alan and Orion, asking them to meet him at the Gym later that day.

Finn soon found himself sitting on a barstool situated by a granite countertop in one of the break areas inside the Gym. The sink was full of coffee mugs and half washed bowls. Orion arrived first, having already been at the Gym for some reason. Finn decided he needed to apologize for leaving his friends in their time of need.

"Hey man, I'm so sorry about what happened," said Finn, giving Orion a handshake in welcome.

Orion gave him a hard look, and Finn could detect a hint of sadness in the other trainer's eyes.

"Look Finn, I'm not happy that you ran instead of trying to help us fight them off. That's just not how I like to do things. But I just spoke with Clair and she made me realize that it was the smartest move in that situation. Their pokémon were just too powerful for us. If you had stayed then we all would have lost our pokémon."Fi

Finn looked down and sighed. "Dude I know, and I'm sorry, but it wasn't exactly easy for me either. I almost died in the river. But I wanted to let you guys know that I've decided to forego the Cherrygrove Tournament and stay and help you and Alan catch another pokémon and get them up to a respectable level so that we can travel."

Orion looked stunned for a moment before breaking into a slight grin. "Well, there's no need to help me catch anything. I'll always miss Ajax, at least until he's found, but Clair felt badly about what happened. She said that the fact that it occurred in her jurisdiction upset her, so she let me have one of Aurora's offspring."

The news rendered Finn speechless. Clair's kingdra was powerful in the extreme. Pokémon bred from elite level stock were almost always outside the price range of the typical trainer. The horsea that Clair had gifted Orion was maybe not quite as valuable as his larvitar egg, but it would be enough to raise the eyebrows of even wealthy trainers.

"That's incredible. She just gave it to you?"

"She told me that she's taken a liking to me, and that after I finish the circuit she wants me to come be a Gym trainer."

"That's amazing man, I'm so happy for you," said Finn. It seemed that the exuberant Orion that he knew was making himself known again.

Then Alan walked in on the scene of the two teens grinning at each other, which caused him to scowl darkly. "What's there to be so happy about. If you didn't notice we just lost our starters, our belongings, and my last chance to be a trainer this year."

"Woah, Alan!" Finn raised his arms trying to placate his friend. "We're obviously upset about what happened, you just came in at the wrong time!"

Alan's face was scrunched up in a frown and his unkempt blonde hair and rustled clothing made him look like he was one step away from a breakdown.

"It sure doesn't seem like it. It's going to take me another half a year to come up with the funds to get repels and pokéballs to get started again. I find you two just laughing it up in the Gym. Well, we aren't all friends with the Gym leader," said Alan, angrily pointing his index finger. Then, Alan deflated, his shoulders slumping forward. "Seymour was just starting to warm up to me."

It took a while, but Finn explained what he planned to do.

Once he began winning at the trainer fields, he would help buy his friend a pokéball if he had to. He wouldn't be able to give away any of the balls he'd received from Clair since he needed one for the larvitar egg when it hatched, and the second he planned to sell for pokémon food to last them the next couple of weeks. Alan calmed down a bit, but he was not completely satisfied. He was visibly upset about Seymour and was stressed about having to stay in Blackthorn for longer than he'd expected.

The next two weeks were a whirlwind of training and battling.

When he first met his exeggcute, it had promptly begun using psychic energy to hurl apricorn-sized seeds at he and Felix. Finn had immediately felt an overwhelming pressure on his mind where feelings of resentment, exhaustion, excitement, and fear swirled around in his head.

Looking deeply into the glowing purple eyes of the pokémon, Finn's eyes began to feel heavy. Luckily, Felix was ready and blew a mass of ice at the pokémon, which stopped its hypnosis. It had taken some cajoling, but after a few trips back into its ball and a couple of Felix's powder snow attacks, Finn convinced the little egg pokémon that he would become stronger if he trained with his team.

Finn was pretty sure that it had been the largest egg-head that he'd convinced. Earlier, all the myriad of feelings that he'd processed when the pokémon was first released were what each of the four heads were experiencing at that time. As Finn's particular exeggcute only had five heads, it seemed likely that the last one was still forming his consciousness. This probably meant that the exeggcute was a young pokémon. After a short back and forth, Finn ended up naming the pokémon Benedict.

While training, he had Felix attempting to increase the density and force of his powder snow attack in order to help the move develop into an icy wind. Icy wind was a much more effective attack and would be very helpful against the first gym leader that Finn planned to challenge. Most attacks followed a progression of power. Powder snow led to icy wind, which could help in the development of blizzard and ice beam.

On most nights after training Finn found himself studying egg-rearing books at the Blackthorn library. Larvitar were so rare that very little was known about how to raise one from an egg. In one of the few books that he'd found with any information about young larvitar spoke of their love of eating dense rocks. This was what helped them develop their thick hides.

It was a slow process, but after a week of practice there were certainly more shards of ice in Felix's attacks and they hit harder. In addition to practicing powder snow, Finn continued having Felix form icicles on his muzzle to try and encourage the development of the icicle crash technique. The pieces of sharp ice Felix created remained fairly small and the pokémon could not put much energy into the attack yet, but there was slight progress. Additionally, Felix's mud slap was coming along well, and was slowly transitioning into a proper mud bomb.

Benedict, like most pokémon, was a fast learner. His psychic typing allowed him to figure out human speech with almost frightening speed. The pokémon's barrage attack was a pretty effective technique where the little creature would psychically throw large seeds at his opponents.

Funnily enough, it seemed like Benedict had a sense of humor. Every time he released the creature he would start pelting Felix with seeds and then looking at Finn for approval. Practice was practice, but the egg pokémon finally stopped the antics after Felix's powder snows got powerful enough to deter the other pokémon.

Benedict's hypnosis attack was a little slow for Finn's liking, but it would be a useful move in time. Finn figured that the attack would really help him when it was time to begin catching new teammates.

Towards the end of the first week Finn began training Benedict to throw seeds that would grow life-draining vines at his opponents. A training manual that Finn had read during one of his nights in the library stated that exeggcute could learn the move leech seed fairly early in their development.

Finn was not standing idle while commanding his pokémon to perform tasks during training. Often times, he would run sprints with his team at the Gym. He also would do sit-ups and push-ups while he had his pokémon train in various ways. One such training session had Finn holding a medicine ball, doing a sit-up, and then throwing the fifteen pound weight at Benedict to catch with his psychic energy. He could tell the small psychic type enjoyed those training sessions because Finn could occasionally feel Benedict's contented emotions in his mind.

During that time, Finn constantly was checking on the larvitar egg. His care of the egg was borderline obsessive. Though it did not show many signs of hatching, Finn had thought that he felt some small movements from the heavy egg on one occasion.

In an effort to be prepared for its eventual arrival, Finn began storing small geodes and rocks that he had tested for their hardness rating in his pack. Finn obviously could not keep very many, but he wanted some choice options for the young pokémon when it hatched.

He'd decided against telling anyone about the egg for the time being. Finn didn't think he could hide the fact from anyone he was traveling with, but he would rather have this be his own thing for now. It would be something special to commemorate the beginning of an adventure.

Finn had been staying on the couch at Orion's parents house for the last week, but he was almost always out of the house training so as not to be a burden to the older couple. It seemed to Finn that Orion had a stable support system, which was a sharp contrast to what he and Alan had grown up with. On occasion, Finn felt some jealousy towards the older teen when his parents would suggest some training technique or a village that he needed to travel too while on his journey. It was just odd seeing what a supportive family might have been like.

His first experience battling at the training fields on Blackberry Street turned into a true test. It was at the beginning of his second week of training when he felt like his two pokémon companions were strong enough to begin fighting other trainers.

Finn and Orion registered with the front desk at the training fields, and paid a small entrance fee. Orion walked with more confidence than Finn had, as he'd already been battling at the facility for the past few days. The horsea that Clair had given Orion was obedient and well trained. Orion was already able to command it in most of its basic attacks and had won majority of the battles he'd participated in at the fields. The older teen had named the creature Darya.

The field where the zero badge trainers were congregating was not very large as most pokémon at that level didn't have the destructive capability that the higher tiered pokémon did. It looked like there were less people here than usual. This was probably because the official season was about to begin and Blackthorn was generally where a trainer ended their journey rather than started one. Clair only took on seven badge challengers after all. Additionally, the Rookie Tournament was being held this week. The zero badge trainers who remained in Blackthorn likely had other plans.

When they reached the stands on the side to look for challengers they met a group of teens that looked a bit awestruck.

"That kid has been beating us all day!"

"His cyndaquil is so powerful! I wonder where he got such a rare pokémon?"

Wanting to see what was so special about this trainer, Finn pushed forward in the crowd where a battle had just concluded. A wiry kid with a squinty face was dejectedly handing money over to a teenager with thick red hair that just barely brushed his shoulders. He had a medium build and was dressed in a navy jacket with red trim. A look of smug superiority graced the teen's face.

"I think I've proven that I'm the strongest of the trainers here. It seems like the trip up to Blackthorn might have been a waste of my time though. I thought maybe one of you might know something about finding a dratini, but it appears that Blackthorn's reputation is misplaced. Unless, of course, any more of you losers want to hand over half of your money?" said the red haired trainer.

He was speaking about the League's wager rules. The maximum wager a trainer could make was half of the cash they had on hand at the time of the battle. Of course, trainers could make a lower bet, but the the smug teen was probably asking for the largest bets he could. Understandably, this was a hard rule to enforce out on the routes as one could never be sure how much money a trainer had on them. Even if it was mostly unenforced, there was a harsh penalty for those who were found to have cheated the system. 

Finn looked over at Orion and back at the somewhat arrogant trainer. Then, he spoke up, "I don't have much money, but I will challenge you. How many badges do you have?"

"Zero. I plan to teleport to Cherrygrove and win the tournament later this week."

"I'm Finn."

"Call me Silver."

Finn felt a cold beat of sweat trickle down his brow as he walked towards the marked off trainer box. The coarse soil and dirt of the battle arena crunched beneath his feet and all of his senses seemed heightened.

As he was finding out was normal for most training arenas, the site was composed mostly compact dirt, but there were two pools of water on each side for water pokémon to use.

The fields' referee, who was wearing a black and white checkered shirt, commanded two abra on either side of the field to raise barriers. The two humanoid fox pokémon raised their hands and glowed with a purple light, creating shields encasing the field. This would prevent the spectators and trainers from injury.

Finn turned to face Silver.

"Let's make this interesting. I'll let you use two pokémon to my one," said Silver. The crowd didn't look surprised by this so it was probably something he'd been doing all day long. 

Not one to reject such a kind offer in his first sanctioned trainer battle, Finn agreed. When the referee lowered his checkered flag, they both tossed out their first pokémon. There was only one real choice Finn had in a two versus one battle. Benedict was not as strong as his starter and he was hoping that the egg pokémon could help weaken his opponent before Felix took over.

With a strangely high pitched squeak, Benedict appeared onto the battlefield. Silver threw a pokéball on his side of the arena, and a small rodent pokémon appeared. The creature's beady black eyes looked down an elongated snout at Benedict. It was different than any pokémon he'd ever seen before. The top half of its body was covered in glistening dark fur, while its belly was a fuzzy tan color. When it appeared, the pokémon blew smoke out of its elongated snout and its back caught on fire.

Finn cursed his luck. Fire types were very effective against both Benedict's grass type and Felix's ice type dispositions.

"Benedict! Use hypnosis and try to avoid its fire!" said Finn.

"Ember the field Cyndaquil!"

Benedict's ten eyes glowed a brilliant purple for a moment as he stared down his opponent. Then, Finn's pokémon then began to hop around in an odd dance. One egg would jump several feet to the left and the rest would then follow with several uncoordinated hops.

The cyndaquil wasted no time in bombarding Benedict with balls of flame shooting from its snout. His hypnosis attack seemed to only cause the pokémon mild drowsiness. Benedict was only able to get one barrage of seeds off before Finn was forced to recall him because of all the fire. In a flash, he released Felix onto the field.

"Felix, mud slap it right in the face!"

"Looks like I have this one in the bag, two pokémon, both weak to my starter's best attack," said Silver. "Ember again!"

Felix sent globs of mud at the cyndaquil with better accuracy than Finn had expected since the cyndaquil was a fast moving target. Mud in its eyes, the cyndaquil's ember attack was sent soaring way off target. Unfortunately, the small mole pokémon's next burst of flame did not miss. Felix let out a gasp of pain as the fire impacted the thick fur on his back, but was way less affected than Finn thought the ice type should have been.

"Keep it up. Use powder snow around the field. Make it wet, then use mud slap again!"

Felix emitted ice and snow from his maw and spread it around the field. The ice quickly melted due to all of the heat from the fire attacks Silver's cyndaquil had been using. This dampened the dirt, making Felix's mud slaps way more effective against the fire type pokémon. Felix endured another ember attack to his side before he guided a voltorb-sized ball of clay in front of him and banished it across the field. Upon impact, the cyndaquil's neck contorted backwards and it fell to the sandy floor unconscious.

"Impossible!" shouted Silver.

"And the win goes to the newcomer Finn!" announced the referee.

A warm feeling enveloped him as he realized that Felix had overcome the odds and won his first battle. He rushed out to the field and picked up Felix into his arms, pulling out some pokémon treats. The swinub yowled and squirmed his legs, protesting being removed from the ground. 

The crowd of young pokémon trainers all swarmed Finn to congratulate him. Orion gave him a mighty slap on the back and a high-five. The crowd parted as Silver walked over.

The other teen threw a large wad of bills at Finn's feet and said, "My pokémon was too weak. I really don't get it; my cyndaquil should've crushed you. It was probably just tired from all of the battling today. I'll have to undergo some more serious training before Cherrygrove. Be prepared to be defeated next time, kid."

Feeling perturbed, Finn called out as Silver was walking out of the facility, "Who are you calling kid?" The arrogant auburn haired trainer didn't even turn around and kept walking.

Finn told Orion he would watch his battle, but that he would need to go back to the nearby Pokémon Center before returning again. He had won over 1,000pb, which was an absurd amount for one zero badge battle, but Finn supposed that the other boy had been winning all day and hadn't had time to stash away some of his winnings.

It soon became clear that Orion's new horsea Darya was formidable. The creature could hold itself aloft outside of the water, which Finn knew was an extremely difficult technique for a young water pokémon to master. It came as no surprise when Orion won a few battles.

Afterwards, the two decided to go celebrate a bit with their winnings. They called Alan and went for miltank burgers. While there, Finn produced a pokéball from his pocket for Alan. He had purchased it right after healing up his team from their confrontation with Silver. The expression of gratitude and relief on his friend's face made Finn feel a lot better about himself. He had also purchased himself a trainer belt, which had spaces for trainers to clip their pokéballs. Any trainer worth their salt had one.

"Thanks, man. Just know that I'll be paying you back tenfold in the future," said Alan.

The next day Finn and Alan made the journey out to Route 45 for the first time since they'd been ambushed. He had a repel clutched in his hand in a firm grip and had both Felix and Benedict out of their pokéballs in case something went wrong.

When he released Benedict for the first time since the battle with Silver, he was overcome with feelings of sadness and incompetence, with all of his pokémon's heads in agreement. Finn immediately realized that Benedict was being hard on himself for losing to the fire type.

"Benedict, listen to me. You're going to have plenty of chances to win battles. This was just your first one and it was against a strong fire type no less! Alan and I are going to go find a pokémon for him to capture, and I'm going to use you to do it okay?" said Finn.

Benedict seemed slightly appeased, but Finn could still feel occasional pangs of regret rattle across his mind.

Since they had started training, Benedict had gotten much better with his attacks. His hypnosis was becoming more potent, and he was gaining some proficiency with leech seed. The small egg pokémon still had trouble getting his seeds to attach and drain away the energy of his opponents, but it was a work in process.

Felix looked to be bigger and stronger than the last time they had left the city. He had gained about five pounds and an inch or two in height. Moreover, Felix's powder snow and mud slap were legitimately strong attacks now. It was comforting that Finn could foresee a time when he would not have to fear the forest nearly as much.

At one point while Finn and Alan were walking down the route, a skarmory had flown above them, causing both teens to fall still and glance around for a hiding place, but the monstrous metal bird had continued on its way without even noticing them.

Both Felix and Benedict got some experience battling wild pokémon. Most of the creatures on Route 45 were rock or ground types, which both of his pokémon were effective against. Sometimes the pokémon his team defeated would have something that Finn could use. For example, one geodude Felix had defeated had a shiny round stone that Finn thought might be an evolution stone affixed to its rocky hide. Finn pried it off with his knife and stored it in his bag. He later exchanged what he found out was an everstone for a very dense gemstone that he planned to give to his larvitar when it hatched.

Alan ended up catching a small phanpy, which must have wandered away from its heard. It was a foot tall sky blue elephantine pokémon with burnt orange shoulder plates. The species was known to manipulate the earth and for their strong loyalty to their herd. One hypnosis and barrage from Benedict made the creature an easy capture. Finn remained a bit weary though. Donphan did not typically leave their young for long. They were especially dangerous pokémon in the wild. It could manipulate the ground underneath you and then gore you with its tusks.

Finn needn't have worried, for he and Alan made it back to Blackthorn in one piece.

"Thanks for holding out for me, Finn," said Alan. "I know how much you wanted to get going, but it means a lot that you stayed. You're a real friend. I already feel like you and Orion are leaving me in the dust with all of the training you've been doing this past week. Plus, Felix and Benedict seem to already trust you so much."

"You would do the same for me, wouldn't you? And don't you worry. You'll get that phanpy trained up in no time," said Finn.

Finn continued as he had for the previous week. He would train in the mornings and then try his luck at the trainer fields in the afternoon. If he won against the trainers there, he would do the same schedule the next day. If Finn lost, then he would train for much longer at the Gym the next day. Finn had been winning much more often than he lost though. Thus far, Finn's only loss came to a trainer whom he believed had inherited their marshtomp from their parents.

Finn was shocked at how quickly you could accumulate money if you were a decent pokémon trainer. In a fraction of the time it had taken him when mowing lawns, he had won enough money to purchase provisions for their journey to Cherrygrove.

Almost every day Finn's muscles were sore and he was exhausted, but for the first time in his life he felt truly happy. There was something cathartic to all of the training. Thankfully, he never ran into Vince in the city and Orion's family remained overwhelmingly accommodating, even inviting him for meals out with the family on occasion.

Alan's training began smoothly as the phanpy he captured was practically a baby and easily fell into a regimen. Finn suspected that Alan was hesitant to name the phanpy because of the trauma he faced with Seymour.

When the Cherrygrove Rookie Tournament began, most people in the region had their televisions set to see how this year's crop of new trainers would fare. Pokémon training was the supreme sport in most regions of the world. In the end, the final matchup was between Silver and a very pretty blue haired trainer with a deep tan from New Bark, Lyra. Seeing Silver in the finals made Finn feel a bit dejected. He had beaten Silver, and if he'd just had the will and confidence that he could survive the road to Cherrygrove he may have been there in his place.

In dramatic fashion, Lyra's chikorita evolved into a bayleaf in order to defeat Silver's last pokémon, a zubat. The TV announcers made a big deal about Lyra since she was a recipient of Professor Elm's Pokédex Scholarship for the top scorers on the trainer exam. They used the fact that she won to bolster the veracity of the scholarship and Professor Elm's judgment. Additionally, evolved pokémon for new trainers were pretty rare. The fact that her starter evolved gave credence to the idea that she would eventually be a very strong trainer.

Karen of the Elite Four was there to present the girl with her prize for first place. Lyra won a large sum of money and a pokéball, which the girl revealed to the crowd. With a flash, an adorable amphibious frog pokémon appeared. The pokémon licked its left eye with its tongue and gave a loud 'ribbit' for the crowd. It had shiny sky blue skin and foamy bubbles coated its neck. A froakie. From what he knew of the creatures, they were from the Kalos region and evolved into formidable dark and water type pokémon. It was apparently bred from Karen's elite greninja, Nyx.

More time went by and his team was finally getting to a level where Finn felt pretty confident traveling and camping out on the routes. The Rangers patrolled the mapped routes, and barring losing the path or running into criminals, they should be fine. After a couple of weeks going in and out of the city to train, he realized that he and Alan really should've tried to stay near Route 45 when they left the city that first night. The stronger pokémon all seemed to know to avoid it because of the heavy traffic by trainers and Rangers.

On one of the last days before they left, Finn was training his pokémon in attack power and accuracy at the Gym when Clair elegantly strode into the training area. It was one of the rare afternoons where he was alone in the training room and he looked up in surprise.

"Good afternoon Finn," she said, nodding once.

"Hello, how are you today Leader Clair?" said Finn, a questioning look in his eye. This was surprising because Clair normally only bothered with the legitimate Gym trainers. The longer he spent training at the Gym, the more he realized that their first meeting was an anomaly.

Felix, remembering the dragon tamer, happily scurried over and rubbed his head against her shins.

"Ah, hello to you as well little Felix," said Clair, with a small smile. She then looked up and said, "And call me Clair, please." She bent down and patted Felix on the head. "You have certainly grown since the last time I saw you."

"Em, thank you Leader Clair, is there something that you wanted?" said Finn.

"Listen Finn, I wanted to reach out to you before you and Orion left on your journey. You may not have noticed, but I have observed some of your training and can see talent when it is in front of me. I know that you have had things a little tough, and wanted to extend the generosity of my Gym to you. Just know that you can reach out to me if you ever run into trouble, or even if you just have some questions about training. You may not know this, but Gym leaders often take young traveling trainers under their wing in order to help them along. Normally this occurs after a promising Gym battle, but I believe that I have seen enough from you and Orion while training here. And please, do make me aware before you challenge any of my colleagues. I would like you watch your performances. It appears that Falkner may be in for some surprises this year."

Finn gave his profuse thanks and told the older trainer that he would try to let her know about any Gym challenges he was participating in. Leader Clair inquired about their traveling plans and they made pleasant small talk for a few minutes.

As Clair was about to leave she turned and handed Finn a small rectangular object and a paper card. "Take this as a token of your time here. With adequate training using this technical machine, Felix here could take a hyper beam to the face and come away unscathed. Hopefully it will make you feel a bit safer out in the wilderness. The move it called protect. And my pokédex number is on the card if you ever need it."

With that, Clair nodded and exited the training area. Every time Finn started to think that the Gym leader could not surprise him anymore, she did. TMs were items Finn had not even let himself think about yet since the cost was way out of his range. Modern technology had allowed humans to retrieve memories of how pokémon use a technique and transfer it to another pokémon while they were still in a dematerialized state in their pokéballs. Finn quickly attached the rectangular disk to Felix's ball and activated the TM. After the program was done running he heard a small pop emanate from the TM, signaling that it was a one use item.

The longer they stayed in Blackthorn, the more Finn and his friends were starting to get antsy. He was sure that Orion thought that they were ready to leave Blackthorn. Darya had proven herself especially powerful for such a young pokémon. The elite kingdra's offspring was showing that genealogy could be a huge boon in pokémon training. It was for that reason the Finn hadn't even challenged the older boy to a friendly battle yet. He wanted to be sure that he had a chance first.

Before they left, Orion ended up catching another magikarp out on Route 45. He told the other boys that he was now going to try and train draconic pokémon in order to be the best Gym trainer Clair had ever seen.

"So you all of the sudden want to be a dragon trainer?" asked Finn, skeptically.

"Well no, it was kind of always my dream as a kid. You know, growing up in Blackthorn we place a lot of emphasis on dragons and how their partnership with the clans helped our civilization begin. I always loved the Dragon Festivals growing up. We're always told that the best dragon trainers come from the clans, but I've always naively thought I might be able to do the same myself. Now, I'm not so sure, but I want to give it a try."

"I don't think it's silly," said Alan. "If Clair sees something in you, then you've probably got a shot."

"I'm not going to lie, it'll be tough. I haven't seen many magikarp evolve for trainers, and the secret to evolving seadra is well kept by those in the know. Dratini might as well be the legendary Suicune for how common they are. But, if anyone can do it, I'll bet on you, bud," said Finn.

Before they left, Alan still had a little ways to go with his phanpy, but he told the others that he was fine to leave so long as Finn and Orion were traveling with him. He'd even won his first battle with the creature at the training fields the day before.

So that was how the three teens finally left Blackthorn city, a little over two weeks from the time when the thieves had stolen Orion and Alan's pokémon. Neither the Rangers nor the police had found anything of significance. The heavy egg he carried in his pack at all times was a reminder of that day.

Finn, Orion and Alan found themselves situated around a campfire on Route 45. They chose to camp in a small gravelly area just up the slope from the river. If the soot and ash on the ground was any indication, it appeared that other trainers had often used this spot before them. After deciding to go at a slow pace so that they could train against the wild pokémon on the route, they decided it would probably take them around two weeks to traverse Routes 45 to Route 46 and then cross a small section of Route 29 into New Bark Town for a rest. Taking Dark Cave may have been an option if any of the boys had had a pokémon that could light their way. As it was, the long way was probably better for their training aspirations.

A magikarp was roasting in a small traveling skillet that Finn had pulled from his pack. The cooking instrument was settled neatly into the shining embers. Each of the boys had brought rations and other food, but they mostly just fished up some magikarp or krabby for their meals. Sometimes they would eat a bidoof or rattata that one of their pokémon defeated in battle. As none of the teens had a fire type yet, they always had to forage for suitable tinder to start fires with.

"So Orion's decided to try and train dragons, but what about you Finn? Do you want to specialize?" said Alan, stoking the fire with a long pine branch.

"I'm thinking a diverse team may be best for the Gyms, but if I catch one or two pokémon of like type I'm not going to be upset. I think I'm going to stick to the six-member team limit though. Any more and I'd need to find a place to board them and that's a bit much for me right now," replied Finn.

"Yeah, me too, but I'm not picky. I've secretly always wanted a charmander though. They're just so badass," said Alan.

"It's a long detour to the Charicific valley from here, and there aren't any Gyms near there. But, the charmander line are dragon-like enough that I'd probably be down for that trip at some point though," said Orion.

"Sounds good to me, but I think we should try to get at least a couple badges first. We don't want a year to go by before we know it, then we'd have some League penalties," said Finn.

Along the route, they ran into many trainers. Almost all of them were over five badge trainers, meaning that they could not challenge the three boys. That did not stop them from training in other ways. Sometimes their pokémon even trained together. Felix taught Alan's phanpy the beginnings of mud slap, while Darya did not seem to mind helping Benedict practice his hypnosis. The little seahorse pokémon really enjoyed her naps. Felix had also taught Darya how to use a variant of powder snow.

Interestingly enough, most mornings Orion would venture down to the river to train his newly caught magikarp. He would have it swim against the current in the rapids until it became too tired and have Darya shoot jets of water at the fish pokémon to dodge. While Finn was not quite sure the magikarp was actually smart enough to follow Orion's orders, it was entertaining nonetheless.

He also finally told his friends that he had found an abandoned egg out in the wilderness, but not the circumstances surrounding it. Hiding the rather large egg incubator was becoming too much of a challenge. It wasn't that he didn't trust the other two, but more that you could never be sure what might slip. Finn thought he might as well wait until the larvitar hatched and let it be a surprise. There was less risk that way.

Route 45 was beautiful.

The early morning spring air was crisp. Often times, the teens would watch the morning blanket of fog lift from above the clear glacial waters of the Blackthorn river. Shoots of bright green leaves sprouted from the trees awakening from the winter season and wildflowers began to blossom. Small pokémon moved about and were starting to become more active. At times the teens had to travel over rickety wooden bridges to cross the river. The scenic mountain views were not bad either.

It was nice that the route was mostly downhill. Finn could not imagine how long it would have taken them to hike up the mountainous terrain. As they continued to get lower in elevation, different plants began appearing. The stands of pines slowly turned into rows of deciduous oaks and chestnut trees. On occasion, they even spotted a rare wild apricorn tree.

After a successful week on the road, training and occasionally battling a trainer within their badge level, Finn was beginning to feel more relaxed on the route. He didn't stay up late into the night worrying about every sound that came from the woods. With Felix and Benedict outside of their pokéballs, the nights became more manageable. The gentle rushing of water from the river was even a bit soothing to fall asleep to.

The three teens were also getting along well. After Alan's initial anger after Seymour was taken, he was finally beginning to settle down. Phanpy was becoming a formidable pokémon on its own, creating waves of dirt on command.

Eventually the group ran into something unexpected.

The sun was beginning to dip below the hills to their right, signaling that they should probably stop for the night soon.

They were crossing into Route 46 when they stumbled across and empty camp on the trail. A high quality tent was erected next to a still smoldering fire. There was even a bunch of recording equipment out in the open. Nobody would just leave a camp like this unattended.

"Guys, what should we do here? Go looking for whoever left this camp like this?" said Finn.

"I'd say so. They could be in trouble," said Orion.

"How about we just keep on moving? I would rather stay on route if we can," said Alan, his eyes shifting about the campsite.

"You want to just leave whoever left this camp to fend for themselves?" said Finn incredulously. He glanced over at Alan and saw the other boy wringing his hands together and looking about nervously. Alan's nervousness was probably a remnant of the mugging they had been party to not long before.

"I think we should stay for a bit and make sure that whoever owns this stuff comes back," said Orion. "Let's just make camp here and wait for them to come back."

"Agreed, I don't want to just ignore this," said Finn.

"But what if it's more criminals, we've come too far to go back to having nothing," said Alan, his insecurity coming through.

"Everyone just keep your pokémon at the ready, we're much stronger than before. Let's fish up some dinner and start a fire," said Finn.

The fire had just begun to crackle and the sunlight had dimmed significantly as the sun set, when Finn looked up and noticed a small pokémon in the trees to their right. It was like an acorn, but larger. Around a foot in height, it had two black half-moon eyes underneath its acorn cap. The creature was just starring at them while they finished setting up their gear.

"Guys, hold up. There's something up there," said Finn, pointing up in the tree.

As the other two boys noticed the pokémon, two more showed up as if from nowhere in the adjacent oaks. The three unmoving pokémon continued to stare down at them.

"Felix get ready for a powder snow!" said Finn, beginning to feel a foreboding in the pit of his stomach.

Within moments the trees were filled with dozens of the creepy pokémon.

* * *

 **Finn:  
** Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
Egg (presumed Larvitar)

 **Orion:  
** Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp

 **Alan:  
**? - Phanpy


	5. A Time to Kill

**Chapter 5: A Time to Kill**

"They're seedot!" said Alan. "Grass pokémon originally from Hoenn!"

As one, the seedot dropped from the tree's sturdy limbs and landed in unison on the forest floor. This upped the creepiness factor significantly, causing the three teens to hastily scamper backwards. Felix, Darya, and Phanpy looked on at the swarm of pokémon with apprehension. Frost clung in the air in front of Felix's face. Darya's eyes held a stormy intensity Finn had not seen before, and Phanpy was pawing at the earth with his front foot.

"Run!" shouted Orion.

Finn agreed. Taking on that many opponents at once was not a good idea. The three teens and pokémon all began running while the small nut pokémon began hurling razor sharp leaves at them.

He quickly took out a repel from his pocket and primed it, quietly cursing himself for leaving the rest of the repels he had purchased back in his pack in his tent.

Oddly, much of the first volley of razor leaf attacks missed the fleeing group. He turned to see Benedict trying to keep up with them while using his psychic abilities to fling the incoming leaves to both sides. All five of the exeggcute's heads looked like they were using their individual power to deflect five of the attacks at a time. Darya and Felix were launching chunks of sharp ice into the horde. Each piece of ice that hit left a seedot that could no longer follow the group. Seeing two streaks of blood congealing on either side of Felix's furry body made Finn suddenly wish he had spent more time having the swinub work on the protect technique that Clair had gifted him.

"Keep it up!" said Finn.

As is became clear that their pokémon could not continue following the group and attacking at the same time, the trainers returned their partners so that they could run faster. Then, Finn aimed and tossed the repel with all of his strength at the swarm of creatures.

The canister arced through the air and landed in the dirt just feet in front of the first of the incoming pokémon. The rapidly expanding cloud of smoke was extremely effective. Dozens of seedot turned tail and began heading away from them back up the route. Finn was about to celebrate when they saw a second wave of the creatures coming at them from the trees on their right. A never ending wave of sentient acorns was hopping down the hill towards them.

"Shit! We gotta keep moving!" said Finn.

As they made their way around a bend in the route a bridge appeared. It was similar to all of the other ones they had been crossing on the way down Route 45, wooden, narrow, and a bit bleached by the elements.

"Let's cross, then we can bottleneck them at the other side of the bridge!" said Orion.

Night was beginning to set in, so their running had to slow down somewhat to avoid stumbling on the rocks and roots that covered the route's pathway. The pokémon behind them were surprisingly able to keep up pretty well with their knobby wooden feet.

It was when they made it halfway across the bridge that they realized their mistake. Eerily situated at the other side were around twenty seedot as well as five or six nuzleaf, their evolved form. Nuzleaf looked like two and a half foot tall animated wooden toys with a vibrant green leaves growing out of their heads. The pokémon were moving up and down in cadence with all of the other grass type pokémon.

Then, the creatures began a steady march forward to intercept them.

Finn looked down into the tranquil waters of the Blackthorn river. There were far less rapids in the lower section of the river, but jumping in would still mean surviving the deathly cold waters. Also, the water was not really moving fast enough for them to outpace the chasing pokémon. Finn did not like the thought of abandoning his friends again either.

"Quick! Back to the other side, looks like we're going off-route!" said Finn, doing a rapid about face.

Within the next ten steps the group knew that they would not make it back to the entrance of the bridge in time. Seedot after seedot hummed as they crowded on either side of the bridge. Their little bodies continuing the strange up and down dance.

"Any smart ideas now?" said Orion. To his left Alan started hyperventilating.

"Not really, I don't think our pokémon can fight off this many of anything," said Finn.

"Do—do you think Darya could pull us away fast enough if we jumped into the river?" asked Alan, thinking of Orion's horsea.

As if sensing weakness, the first of the nuzleaf from behind them approached with a long knife-like leaf in its hands. It thrust its stubby wooden arms at the trees past the seedot, gesturing violently. Two of the other nuzleaf then came up to the teens with the same sharp knife leaves and held the boys at bay while they took their pokéballs from them. Finn had wanted to fight back but the sharp end of the nuzleaf's weapon pinched into his stomach.

The fact that the creatures took their pokéballs shook Finn to the core. It meant that these pokémon were aware enough to know that they were trainers and were in complete control of the situation. Finn then came to realize that the bridge was a trap. This was likely what had happened to the owner's of the previous camp. These pokémon were coordinating in groups to catch humans.

"Not good. This is not good!" said Alan, in a harsh whisper.

Finn was struggling to come up with a solution to the problem. Their pokémon almost certainly would have died if we had sent them against the almost one hundred wild seedot and nuzleaf, but he still had his knife on him. The beacon they had taken after leaving Blackthorn had long since gone out of range, but maybe some sort of an opportunity would present itself.

Then, with their leaf knives pointing at the teens, the nuzleaf began herding them towards the forest. Dark had truly fallen now, and the upwards climb was littered with obstacles. If one of the boys tripped they were immediately prodded and shoved back to their feet by the sharp points of the nuzleaf's weapon of choice. Each of the teens had small red blotches on their clothes from where they had been poked. The further they marched, the more Finn felt their chances of getting out of this alive plummet. Over the next twenty minutes Finn, Alan, and Orion were pushed until they reached a clearing in the forest where Finn could see the outlines of more nuzleaf and seedot.

An ominous fluting sound whistled through the air, emanating from the group of pokémon. In time with the seedot's dance, the flutes played, "Duuuuh dah duuuuh dah duuuuh dah."

They were pushed even more until they encountered a small circle of around ten nuzleaf and a horde of seedot. Two of the nuzleaf held flutes made from leaves. The rest, held out a sharp knife leaf inward. In the circle were two human forms and several pokémon. With a shove, two of the nuzleaf parted and the boys were tossed into the middle with the rest. Briefly, Finn lay on his back looking straight up into the sky. The new moon made their surroundings darker than they would have been during any other phase of the moon, but the stars shone brightly above.

The two people outside of Finn's group were older men. One with a think mop of brown hair and wiry spectacles, and another with a salt and pepper trimmed beard. The younger of the two wore a brown travel vest with about one hundred pockets. Both men had their faces twisted in confusion and were having trouble articulating words. Finn was about to try and get some answers from the men, when a larger nuzleaf broke through the circle and approached them. There was another grouping of three smaller nuzleaf trailing behind it. The large alpha gestured to a raticate nearby that was pawing at its whiskered nose.

Together, the smaller nuzleaf grabbed the raticate and then left the circle with the larger nuzleaf leading them down the gentle slope towards what looked like a deep pit in the earth.

It was oddly beautiful watching as the pokémon made their way through the gently swaying grass in the starlight. The pulsing dark melody echoing throughout the clearing in time with their movements. The further they got, the harder it was to make out the creatures in the dim light. It appeared that they reached a large cave-like opening with dozens of grass pokémon surrounding the entrance. Then, the rat pokémon was ceremoniously tossed into the pit, and the alpha nuzleaf jumped in afterwards. Finn's ears rang as the pokémon's song reached a crescendo.

A minute went by, and a confusing pounding started to make itself known in Finn's head while at the same time his fatigued muscles began to feel stronger.

Suddenly, a gigantic pillar of light emitted from the cavern below and shone up into the heavens. A gale of wind began gusting disproportionately to the weather moments previous. As light faded Finn looked around wildly while trying to regain his vision. Through the shining dots that swam in his vision Finn saw a large figure emerge from the cave and start walking towards the group. At around five feet tall, it was over twice the size of the surrounding nuzleaf and it dwarfed the seedot. It had a flowing mane of white hair and a wickedly pointed wooden nose. The creatures slanted eyes held a darkness to them and its arms were replaced with three large leaves that resembled a fan.

"Shiftry," said Alan weakly; whatever was making his head pound was also affecting the other two teens. Orion had crouched down and was holding his head, clenching and unclenching his fists, while Alan was rocking back and forth on the ground.

Finn was still able to stand and saw the process repeated one more time with a twitching meowth; another shiftry emerging from the hole in the ground. Then, the horde came back to the circle for a third time. One of the nuzleaf pointed at the older man with the greying hair. The nuzleaf was wearing three trainer belts with pokéballs on them over its shoulders like suspenders, causing Finn feel a rush of anger towards the pokémon. Finn was not about to just let the other man get taken, so he pulled out his hunter's knife and shakily stood in front of the man. This was probably going to be it, but at least his life would end knowing he was trying to keep his friends alive. The nuzleaf in charge of this group looked at him with narrow eyes and slowly drew out its own grass knife.

That was when the chaos began.

A stream of fire, the end of which was the thickness of a small house, flared down onto the field. Dozens of seedot and nuzleaf were engulfed in flames and let out deafening screeches into the night. Outside the range of the flame, the two newly evolved shiftry that were standing down by the pit seemed to just disappear into thin air. The disappearance of the shiftry must have given a signal to the other pokémon because they began to disperse.

As the pokémon began leaving the circle and the grass flute melody faded, Finn's head began to clear and he could look around properly for the first time since they had reached the field. The nuzleaf holding its weapon at him and wearing the teens' pokéballs gave him a scathing look before turning and sprinting away towards the forest. It looked as if nuzleaf were not able to simply disperse into the night like their evolved forms could.

Finn was not going to let that creature take Felix and Benedict away from him, so as fast as he could in his inhibited state he took off after the nuzleaf. The odd strength he felt in his muscles helped propel himself faster than he could normally run. They were quick, but at two feet tall Finn had the advantage of longer legs. When he reached it, he did not bother risking being stabbed. He just jumped and and jammed his hunter's knife into the thick bark-like body of the nuzleaf. The force sent he and the nuzleaf rolling in the tall grass. Tumbling, Finn felt a couple jagged stones tear at his torso before coming to a stop. As the creature was made of wood, the knife only went in about an inch and a half, but it did the job. The grass type was dazed by the attack, and Finn was able to retrieve the belts and unsheathe his knife from the pokémon's back.

Blasts of fire continued to rain down on them from above, but none ever came close to any of the people. Many of the grass types perished. A flash of fire lightened the surrounding area enough that he was able to catch a glimpse of what pokémon was helping them. Through the smoke, a massive charizard whose wingspan was easily thirty feet wide maneuvered through the air. The pokémon's well muscled orange and cream scaled body whipped around the sky with a practiced ease. The charizard threw its draconic head back and released more flame before roaring and banking in the air towards their direction.

It was hard not to feel a sense of impending doom as the fire-dragon soared ever closer, but at the last moment it swooped upward and landed with a thud just feet away from the group.

The person that dismounted from the charizard was easily recognizable. His red hair was a bit disheveled and there was soot on his cheeks, but Champion Lance had a hard face to forget. As the only person standing, the man pointed at him and said, "Young man, where's the professor? Is he alright?"

Still recovering from whatever the grass pokémon had been doing to him as well as the shock from seeing the Champion, Finn replied, "Pro-profesor? Who's that? One of the men over there?" Finn glanced over towards where Alan and Orion were beginning to come to.

Not even bothering to reply, Lance and his charizard made their way towards the group of people and pokémon. One starly awoke and darted off into the darkness. Upon seeing the two older men, Lance rushed over and crouched in front of them.

"Professor! Professor are you ok?" said Lance, pulling out a water bottle to give to the dazed person they had found earlier with the glasses. He appeared to pour a small pouch of powder into the water and then shook the bottle. Lance then gave water to each of the people there.

"It's an herbal root, and should counteract whatever those nuzleaf were doing to you. Probably a variant of the swagger technique," said the Champion, turning to look at him as he approached. Lance handed him the bottle to drink from.

"Thank you for coming, Champion Lance. That was a near thing—the nuzleaf was coming for this gentleman here when you arrived," said Finn walking up and taking a swig from the bottle and looking over at the man who accompanied the supposed professor. The taste was horrendous, but as the liquid flowed into his stomach he could feel his mind begin to clear. He tossed Alan and Orion's pokéball belts to the other trainers and sat himself on a nearby rock.

"L-Lance? Is that you? You got our beacon. Thank goodness," said the man, his bleary eyes trying to focus.

Glancing around, his eyes set on the supposed professor's clothing where a small circular beacon was flashing with a pinpoint red light. So the two men must have turned on a beacon before or while they were being captured by the seedot and nuzleaf. A beacon that called in the Champion? Who had the clout to do such a thing? The beacons Finn's group had were out of range quite quickly after they left Blackthorn.

It instantly clicked. This was Professor Elm, the renowned pokémon researcher from New Bark. He was a specialist in pokémon breeding and evolution. How exactly had the seedot and nuzleaf managed to take out these people? Professor Elm was no slouch when it came to pokémon battling.

It was hard for Finn to decide whether they were lucky or unlucky in this situation. For one, he had never heard of seedot ambushing and killing trainers. Route 46 was supposed to be easier than Route 45 as more Rangers patrolled the routes closest to Cherrygrove where most rookies began their journeys in an attempt to make it safer. On the other hand, they had almost been killed yet again. The affair made it three different times Finn had been in a life threatening situation where he felt helpless to change the outcome. How did any new trainer ever survive this shit?

Swarms were not something to be trifled with. All across Johto swarms were feared for their regularity and unpredictability. They normally were composed of first-stage evolution pokémon, but with sufficient numbers any person or pokémon could be overwhelmed. That was part of the reason that most teams needed a member or two that had wide range attacks. Finn hoped that Felix could one day fill that roll. The small swinub had the potential to eventually learn the powerful earthquake and blizzard techniques.

"They caught us with our pants down—quite literally!" said Professor Elm. "We were out here researching the anomalous number of sightings of shiftry every five years in this area after deducing that they might be using an evolution method other than a leaf stone. Mr. Pokémon and I took a quick restroom break whilst we were setting up camp when suddenly a nuzleaf had my pokémon belt! We had poor Sebastian out, but I don't believe he made it," said the brown haired professor. His eyes were downcast and his face was a mixture of embarrassment and sadness. "Luckily, I still had your beacon from the Mt. Silver expedition last year, or else I don't believe we would have made it out of there. There were simply too many of them for repels to be very effective," he continued.

"You're right about that!" said Alan, who was finally beginning to look normal. The boy was blinking rapidly and kept glancing from the Professor to Lance with what appeared to be worship.

"Did you get the rest of your pokémon back?" asked Finn.

"Not yet, but we should be able to locate their pokéballs with our pokédex back at our camp," said Mr. Pokémon, finally rising to his feet.

"Are you saying we have to go back after those things?" said Orion.

"Not if you do not feel comfortable," said Lance. "With Furnace here, and a few of my other teammates we should not have trouble locating the missing pokémon." Lance patted his charizard on the back.

Lance then pulled out a pokéball and released a tall humanoid fox. The alakazam had a lengthy mustache and its yellow fur was coarse. "My alakazam can take us back to your camp and then we can decide from there. How did you boys get captured?"

Finn helped his two friends relay their story of finding the missing camp and deciding whether to stay and figure out what happened to the other trainers. They told Lance about how the nuzleaf were taking pokémon into the cave and then they would emerge as shiftry.

"We had lots of repels, but we left them in our bags!" said Finn. "They overwhelmed us, and we didn't want our pokémon to die for nothing."

"That was awfully brave of you boys," said Mr. Pokémon. "Don't think I was too out of it to see what you did there at the end, standing in front of that horde of nuzleaf for me—a person you've never met."

Mr. Pokémon gave Finn a nod full of gratitude, and Finn felt abashed. "For some reason I think I was able to keep my mind a bit better than you lot," said Finn. "I couldn't just do nothing."

"Don't underestimate yourself. I think that's exactly what most people would've done," said Professor Elm, a genuine smile on his face.

Lance then had the Professor pull up a mental image of their camp in his mind and teleported us there all at once, showcasing the power of an elite alakazam. Finn hurried over to his pack to make sure nothing was missing. As the Professor and Mr. Pokémon began fiddling with their pokédex, Lance instructed the other boys to start packing up their tents, for they would be teleporting to New Bark after they found the Professor's belongings. Not wanting to complain about a free teleport, the boys all began to pack up quickly.

"Thanks for getting Phanpy Finn," said Alan, grabbing Finn by the bicep. "I was way too out of it to even think about chasing after that one nuzleaf." Orion passed on similar thanks.

After some time, the group found themselves following a quietly blinking dot on the Professor's pokédex towards where the pokéballs were registering on its map function. At this point it seemed like they were retracing their steps down the route. Furnace's tapered orange tail had a large yellow flame that helped light the way. The fire was so hot that the flame had tinges of blue.

As he looked over at the three adults quietly speaking, Finn felt that this was a surreal experience. Professor Elm and Champion Lance were legendary figures in Johto culture. Just seeing Lance's charizard up close in person was incredible. Even though the pokémon's tail was swaying many feet behind them, he could feel the heat it gave off against the back of his neck. Mr. Pokémon was apparently a researcher that Finn had never heard of before, but if he was well acquainted with the other two men, then he must have been someone important.

The flashing dot brought the group back to the clearing where they had begun. They trekked over to where the shiftry had been emerging. The cave entrance, which had seemed small from a distance, was easily twenty feet across and went straight down like a well.

Finn released Felix and Benedict to help search the ground for the Professor's pokéballs. Both pokémon first came over the Finn to check on him, making his heart swell with pride. Benedict's fifth egg-head had finally gained consciousness, instead of the four presences that he usually felt in his mind around the exeggcute, Finn felt five sets of worried emotions.

Orion and Alan also released their teammates.

"So we're searching for some pokéballs in this area," said Finn, pulling out a spare pokéball he had purchased before leaving Blackthorn and presenting it to his team. "There should be two belts full of them."

When the group discovered that the area outside the cave was clear, it became evident that they would have to descend into the darkness below.

"Ok, this is where I think I'll have to put my foot down," said Alan. "I'm all for being helpful, but there could be anything down there. Shiftry are dark types and could be hiding anywhere with those leaf daggers they use."

Sometimes Finn felt like even though Alan was occasionally more knowledgable about pokémon than he and Orion were, the other boy was a lot more fearful than the rest of the group. Orion was just always stalwart in his demeanor, and Finn had nowhere else to go but forward. Even if he had somewhere else to go, would he? Finn wanted to make it to the Johto League. The only way to do that was by facing the Gym circuit.

Plus, there was something thrilling about being out in the wilderness with nothing but your own wherewithal and grit. Finn looked around and took in the adventure they were on. Bug pokémon were calling out in the trees and a crisp spring wind whipped through his clothes. Most of all, they were in the company of some of Johto's greats.

Lance threw the group a savage grin. "That's understandable after what you've just been through, but to grow as a traveling trainer, you're going to have to face many things just as scary as this cave. This time, I'll just have Furnace take me down. You five remain up here for a moment."

Lance took the Professor's pokédex and the descended into the darkness. Finn was still a bit starstruck. This is what he aspired to become. Someone so strong that nothing daunted them.

"So are these two yours?" asked Professor Elm, looking over at Finn's team inquisitively. The Professor's enduring interest in pokémon was evident by his natural instinct to analyze Finn's pokémon.

"Yes sir, this is Felix my starter," he said, showing off the happy ground type that was chewing on the hem on Finn's pants. "And this is my second capture, Benedict."

"They look well cared for. How long have you been training them?"

"A little less than one month. I was supposed to be in Cherrygrove for the tournament, but our group had a spot of bad luck. We're planning to take on Falkner in Violet first," said Finn.

It took a few minutes, but he told the Professor and Mr. Pokémon the ordeal that the group had been through. They were a good audience, looking perturbed at the right parts of the story and they even asked Finn to show them where the houndour had bitten him. The Professor moved over to look at his other friend's pokémon.

"I must say that your horsea seems remarkably strong for a trainer of your experience. It's not very often you see one that can float unaided so young. What type of training have you been putting it through?" asked Professor Elm.

Orion looked a bit bashful. "Well, you see this particular horsea could already do that when I got her. She's Clair's kingdra Aurora's brood," said Orion.

At this, Mr. Pokémon's eyes shot upwards. "That would explain it. What a fantastic example of the power of pedigree," he said. "I doubt you boys know who I am, but I deal quite a bit with pokémon breeders and study the hereditary qualities in pokémon."

"But how did you get Clair to part with her?" asked Professor Elm, quizzically.

"Well Finn and I were training at her Gym before we left, and when she found out about us being attacked, she reached out," said Orion. "It was exceptionally generous of her, but I think she wants me to become a Gym trainer after my journey."

Upon hearing that Mr. Pokémon was a renown pokémon breeder, Finn had an idea. As of that moment, Finn did not know whether he could handle hatching and raising a larvitar on his own. There was just so little known about the process, and he really did not want to mess up. If he got the advice from these people, then just maybe he would have a shot. That was how Finn found himself telling the story of the poached pupitar to the group.

His friends gasped.

"What? You found a poached pupitar and didn't tell us?" asked Alan.

"Yeah, but the Rangers seemed to want me to be discrete about it. I figured these two are respected enough that it wouldn't hurt to tell them. I think the ones who attacked us may have been the ones who did it," said Finn, beginning to open up his bag. "That's not all though. When I found the pupitar, I also found this underneath it. I was wondering if you might have any information that might help me. I haven't been able to find any information on taking care of young larvitar." He pulled out the egg incubator and looking at both the Professor and Mr. Pokémon.

A second round of gasping occurred.

"Ho-oh! That's incredible," said Professor Elm. "There have only been a few recorded cases of nurturing a larvitar from birth. Could I see it?"

As he handed the incubator over to the Professor, his friends stood stoic and maybe in a bit of shock. Alan looked somewhat annoyed. Mr. Pokémon had exuberant eyes while peeking over the Professor's shoulder at the egg.

"I did always think that your story of just finding a pokémon egg was a bit fishy. Like what mother pokémon just abandons her egg?" said Orion.

"Guys, the Ranger told me not to tell anyone about the egg. If news of the larvitar gets out before my team gets strong enough who knows who might come try and take it from me. They told me to wait until I had a few badges to even use it in battle with anyone outside of my circle of trust," said Finn.

After a few minutes of explanations, the adults said that they would do what they could to help when we returned to New Bark.

It seemed that almost ten minutes had gone by before Lance returned. His face was a hard mask, and the man held two pokéball belts that appeared torn in half.

"The cave went down for a long time, and I am glad that you did not go down with me. It was not a pretty sight," said Lance. He handed the pokémon belts to the two other adults.

Professor Elm took a ball off the belt that had scuff marks and the color was a bit duller than the others. He plugged it into his pokédex, and his face fell.

"Sebastian—he—he didn't make it," said the Professor. He gripped the pokéball tightly in his hand and turned to the boys. "He was my feraligatr, and was the only pokémon we had out when we were ambushed. He was one of my oldest companions. I'm getting no response from his ball, which could only mean that he's gone."

Watching the Professor, who was one of the most capable people Finn had ever met, break down and sob was heartbreaking. Finn could not imagine that happening to Felix or Benedict, and he had only known them for a fraction of the time the Professor had been training with Sebastian. The group all went forth and gave their condolences. Everyone there had dealt with loss before. It took the Professor a minute of two to regain his composure, but he then asked Lance what he had found in the cave.

"I think we can conclude that the secret of evolving shiftry without a grass stone is something that we shall never release to the public," said Lance, glancing at the group. "The cavern floor was littered with the bones of the nuzleafs' victims over the generations. Among the many pokémon victims I was able to retrieve four different IDs from missing trainers. From the state of the decay it would appear that after they coerce their victims into the cave they then use some form of a giga drain to suck the life from them before evolving. It could have something to do with the new moon, the song the nuzleaf were playing, or even the cycle of the stars, but no evolutions that involve the death of another person or pokémon should be made available to the general populace," said Lance, who looked down for a moment before muttering, "Fucking dark types."

"We will probably return here at some point in the next few days to go over the cave in detail. The families of those missing trainers deserve that much. But for now I could do with a bit of rest," said the Professor.

"Can your alakazam really take all of us all the way to New Bark?" asked Orion.

"He can, though it may take him a couple of separate jumps," said Lance.

Lance pulled out an ultraball from his belt and released the creature onto the field. After murmuring to the pokémon for a moment he turned back to the group.

"Recall your teammates, and keep a tight grip on your belongings," he said.

It took them three jumps to different clearings to make it to New Bark town. The weather was noticeably warmer, and the group was no longer sending out puffs of frosty smoke with each breath. The small community was at most a tenth of the size of Blackthorn. Finn could not even make out the town's protective walls, for they must have been rather short. They had materialized in front of a two story laboratory. It had pristine white stucco walls and a clay tile roof. The words 'Elm Center for Pokémon Research' were paced prominently above the glass double doors.

"This is it," said Professor Elm, looking over his shoulder at the group. "We have guest rooms for you three to stay if you would like. I want to go over your memories of the night for my research—tomorrow if you are able."

"Not to mention the larvitar egg!" said Mr. Pokémon.

Lance gave the other man a sharp look, but did not ask any questions.

"Absolutely Professor!" said Finn. "Anything we can do to help."

The other two teens agreed as well. Free lodgings and more time with the Professor was something nobody would say no to.

"This is where I take my leave," said Lance, glancing to each of their exhausted faces in turn. "I am glad that you are alright Charles, Mr. Pokémon, boys. And I'm very sorry about Sebastian. When it's ready, please send me a copy of your report."

With that, he drew out a blue and red greatball and released a gigantic cream colored dragonite. The semi-legendary dragon made everyone there look small. It was one of the three dragonites that made Lance famous, but which one it was, Finn could not tell in the dark. With only one flap of its powerful wings the two shot into the air with immense speed and disappeared.

"Wow," said Finn, staring straight up into the empty night sky.

* * *

**Finn:  
** Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
Egg (presumed Larvitar)

**Orion:  
** Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp

**Alan:  
**? - Phanpy


	6. For Science!

**Chapter 6:**

Professor Elm had an idyllic kitchen on the ground floor of his lab that looked out over a vast field full of pokémon. Upon the hill just past the lab's back fence, a herd of nidoran and its evolved forms lay basking in the early morning sunlight. The poisonous rhino-like pokémon seemed content to just relax in the field giving no thought to predators, purple barbs rising and falling in time with their breaths. Further back there was a small flock of mareep, an electric sheep pokémon. They were bleating as they chewed on fresh shoots of grass, their yellow cream colored wool occasionally releasing a bolt of electricity into the ground. The five people who had returned from Route 46 the night before sat at a wooden table munching on some toast and sipping coffee making idle conversation.

"This place is absolutely amazing," said Alan. "I could only dream of working with pokémon in a setting like this every day."

"I will not lie to you, I enjoy it very much. Maybe one day when your days of battling and traveling are over, you could go to university and look into scientific research. If that sort of thing interests you," said Professor Elm. "I have fine memories of my time at Goldenrod Tech." The older man had a wistful look in his eyes.

Finn glanced around the open concept ground floor. Towards the back of the building was a laboratory where some baby pokémon were being cared for by researchers in white coats. A set of egg incubators with sensor wires affixed at various points were on the table nearby.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you researched baby pokémon. Is that a munchlax? How did you come by that?" asked Finn, not sure he wanted an answer. Snorlax were like natural disasters, and when one decided to take residence anywhere near a community, it often took the local Gym leader and a cohort of Gym trainers to scare it away.

"Yes—yes it is. I won't go into details on that one, but some of our research projects are looking into why some pokémon lay eggs that contain pre-evolutions instead of their base forms. Did you know that marill that don't breed on a certain set of cliffs in Hoenn always produce other marill offspring? We're currently operating under the theory that the scent of the ocean waves cresting against these specific cliffs somehow cause those marill to produce baby azurill instead."

"Fascinating," said Orion, taking a sip of oran juice. "Thank you again for having us here. This is a fantastic break from the routes. After last night, I think we all needed it."

"Agreed, the bed last night was so comfortable it was almost worth it to run into those seedot," said Finn, as he stretched his arms wide and cracked his neck to one side.

"Speaking of that horrid ordeal, we have some things I would like to discuss with you before we debrief later," said Professor Elm, gesturing to his friend next to him. "It has become something of a tradition for those in positions of power to share in their wealth with the younger generation trying to find their way in this vicious world. Especially after some shared experience or tragic event. The wilderness can be a formidable opponent even for seasoned professionals such as myself and Mr. Pokémon here, as my precious Sebastian found out just yesterday." At the mention of his feraligatr, Finn could just tell that it was taking a lot of self control for the Professor to keep his composure. "Now Finn, you and Orion mentioned training with Clair? Orion already received a fantastic pokémon from the dragon tamer, but Finn, did she pass anything on to you?"

"Yeah, she gave me some pokéballs and a TM. I didn't even train in her Gym for a month. It was awfully generous," said Finn. "She said she'd taken an interest in Orion and I and that she wanted to watch our Gym matches."

"Exactly, that's a perfect example. Well, we've decided that you three would be perfect candidates to help us out with a project of ours. The only catch would be that you would need to stay here with us for the remainder of this week. We have some preliminary baseline tests that we need to complete. Additionally, we hope that we might observe the larvitar hatching if we are lucky."

"What type of project are we talking about here?" asked Finn.

At this, Mr. Pokémon took over. "It's something that Professor Elm and I have been working on in conjunction with Professor Birch in Hoenn. He is studying some unusual abilities that he discovered occurring within certain species in his region and asked me to help him research the phenomenon. But we want to know what would happen to these pokémon if they evolved, and that would not happen fast enough for our liking here at the lab. Would you consent to helping us out?"

"We did save a bit of time since Lance teleported us here, what do you guys think?" asked Alan, a touch of eagerness entering his voice.

"Having a chance to work with you two would be an honor sirs, but we wouldn't want to impose on your hospitality all week, and New Bark doesn't have a Pokémon Center," said Finn.

"And what exactly would this study entail?" interjected Orion.

"Nonsense boys, of course you can stay the week! You are the ones helping us out here," said Professor Elm. "As for the project, pokémon are born with inherent abilities of their species. Many of these traits are ubiquitous within certain types of pokémon. However, there are rare cases in which they can be different. Your swinub, Finn, is actually an example of this if I am not mistaken. Most swinub either have effective evasive abilities in a hailstorm, or are able to withstand amorous inducing techniques without succumbing to the affections of the opposing pokémon, but I believe your swinub has a recessive pokémon ability, which we in the scientific community call the 'thick fat' trait. When I inspected it last night, I noticed some tell-tale signs. This ability allows the pokémon to take much less damage than it normally would against fire type and ice type attacks. Have you noticed such a thing in your training thus far?"

Thinking it through, Finn ran his hands through his dark hair.

"Now that you mention it, I think I have," said Finn turning to Orion. "Do you remember Felix tanking those ember attacks from that cyndaquil?"

"Oh yeah, that first day! I remember being surprised it took those hits as well as it did."

"And you Orion will likely notice your horsea is significantly faster during a rainstorm," said Professor Elm, then motioning to Alan. "Alan, your phanpy—being the curious creature that it is—will be prone to finding lost items on your journey. At least until it evolves. These are all examples of the various abilities that pokémon possess. Professor Birch has sent me a few examples of pokémon from his region that he believes exhibit a recessive ability and we would like you to have them to train. As they grow and evolve, we would like for you to report back on their abilities and how they change. From time to time we may even ask for a personal demonstration. Of course, that is the condition of us handing them over to you."

"Wow, so you're just going to let us have pokémon from Hoenn? All we have to do is write reports about their abilities?" asked Finn. "That sounds too good to be true to me."

At this Mr. Pokémon interjected, "Boys, this research will go by much faster if the pokémon are battling constantly so that they can evolve. It's something we would normally send an aide out into the wild to accomplish or even pay a trainer to do. Here at the ranch we simply don't have the time to put them through the rigorous training they need. This way, you three would receive a—rather rare if I do say so myself—pokémon, and we will gain important data about those pokémon. A win-win, you might say!"

"I'm in!" said Alan, who was fidgeting with his fork. "Sounds like a wonderful opportunity."

Finn looked at both Alan, who he thought was nerding out over what was happening, and Orion, who looked contemplative. Finn was sure he would relish the idea to train an exotic and powerful pokémon from Hoenn, but was honestly a bit trepidatious about going from two pokémon to four—once the egg hatched—in such a short period of time. He did not want to neglect Felix and Benedict's development in favor of his hatchling or whatever pokémon the two researchers were planning on imparting to him.

After a bit more thought, he decided to just go for it. Opportunities like this did not arise very often. He was going to eventually have to handle up to six pokémon anyway. It was starting to seem like he would be catching a new partner after every life-threatening experience he went through.

"I'm in as well. What pokémon are we talking about? I have some rudimentary knowledge of most Hoenn native species since many of them have naturalized here. At least in the southern part of the country," said Finn.

"Follow me and I will show you," said the Professor.

The five of them relocated to another portion of the laboratory. The whole place was modern, with sleek angles and lots of stainless steel. Professor Elm walked over to his computer and typed for a bit, and then collected three pokéballs that materialized from the machine.

"I've noticed some weaknesses and strengths to your teams and have already decided which pokémon will be going to each of you," he said, and then tossed the three balls out onto the floor where the light coalesced into the shapes of pokémon.

On the left was a lime green reptilian pokémon. With yellow bulbous eyes, it stood on his hind legs at just a little over a foot tall with a thick dark green tail helping the pokémon keep its balance. The creature's scales were so small that its skin looked like it would be soft to the touch.

In the middle was what appeared to be a walking mushroom. With small eyes and frills surrounding its cream and green polka dotted cap, it had small reddish feet that could barely be seen. When the pokémon appeared on the floor it let out a sneeze, sending particles of dust into the air around it.

"Oho! Watch out for those spores. They could do any number of things to a human," said the Professor.

The last pokémon on the left was a young avian pokémon with burnt orange and yellow plumage. It was a bit shorter than the lizard pokémon and its wings appeared to be much too small to be of any use in flight. The diminutive pokémon's talons clicked against the hard tile floor as it ducked its head in shyness while taking in the crowd of people.

"Finn, you will be partnered with torchic. Orion, you will take treecko, and Alan you will be training shroomish," said the Professor. "All three have exhibited abilities that have to do with speed. At times we are not quite sure what causes the drastic increase in speed they display, but that is what you are taking them for."

Finn knew enough about Hoenn to know that both treecko and torchic were typically given to Professor Birch's scholarship recipients and were very adept battlers. Furthermore, breloom, shroomish's evolved form, were fighting machines with immense strength, if a bit frail.

Torchic was now hiding behind the Professor's pant legs, watching the newcomers with curiosity. The bird pokémon's head tilted left and right as it took in the group.

"Hey there Torchic, I'm Finn. I'll be taking care of you from now on," he said, pulling out an oran berry to entice the creature with.

Internally, Finn was rejoicing. He had been excited to add a fire type pokémon to his team, and now he was going to train a rare Hoenn variety.

The creature took a few tentative steps out from its hiding place. Seeing this, Finn was encouraged and he inched closer with the berry, which caused the young pokémon squawk and retreat back to where it had started.

"Aw, don't be like that boy," said Finn.

"Actually Finn, this torchic is female," said the Professor, interjecting.

"Oh, that's interesting. You'll be the first girl on the team then."

It took some more coaxing, but the torchic finally came over and began pecking at the oran berry in Finn's palm. When it looked to be sufficiently relaxed, Finn scratched around the crest of three canary yellow feathers on its head. Having never really interacted with many fire types before, Finn was surprised by the heat that the pokémon's plumage was giving off.

Orion and Alan looked to be having an easier time with their new partners. The shroomish had the same dopey look it bore when it was first called out whereas the treecko seemed to be begrudgingly allowing Orion to pet its head.

Later in the day, the group took some time to go over their memories of the previous night's adventure. With Professor Elm taking particular interest in Finn's affinity for fighting off the swagger attack. He asked Finn to report back to him if anything similar happened again on his travels. The Professor also contacted Champion Lance to make sure that someone was going back to the site to recover the remains of the missing trainers. Then, they made their way to the back paddock to start some baseline tests on their new pokémon.

Torchic's testing turned out to be pretty interesting. The group discovered that the torchic, who Finn had named Dixie, had the normal speed thresholds for its species. What was surprising was how quickly that changed after successive tests. Once the fire type got moving its speed increased by 50% of its original baseline on each lap it took of the paddock. The looks of amazement on the two researchers faces were fantastic.

"If these increases continue as they are, she could as become as fast as a ninjask within five laps!" said Professor Elm. "What a fascinating ability."

All Finn could see was battling potential. With Dixie establishing herself as the fastest member of his team, he began thinking of ways to utilize that speed to his advantage in battle. Finn imagined teaching the fire type to use double team, which allowed a pokémon to make multiple copies of itself as a decoy to distract opponents. If Dixie could learn that move, it could evade attacks until it was too fast to be hit. He would just need to save enough money up to purchase the expensive TM.

That first day, the group was unable to uncover the catalyst for Shroomish and Treecko's abilities, but they were told that they would continue testing.

That night, Finn found Alan staring outside the window to their rooms. His eyes were hard indicating that he was deep in thought. Finn walked over and said, "Hey man, is everything okay?"

Alan glanced away from the window and smiled, "I guess. Things just seem to be happening so quickly. It feels like yesterday we were this close to resigning ourselves to living in Blackthorn for the rest of our lives having never experienced anything, but look at us now." The other teen grimaced. "I'm still not quite sure that what we did was a smart idea though. Look at all of the crap that has happened to us. First, the houndour, then poor Seymour, and the shiftry. It's all a bit overwhelming. And I see you and Orion just rolling with the punches, but to me it's been hard."

Finn was shocked. "You think we're just rolling with the punches?" said Finn. "Look man, I might keep it together well in front of you guys, but that's just because I know if I don't, I might choose to go back and throw everything away. That would just prove that Vince was always right about me. Right now, I'm just trying not to think about it. Even with all the shit we've been through, it's been real, and there's been real consequences. I've never felt so alive, but it's terrifying all the same. I think we'd regret it for the rest of our lives if we stopped."

"You're right about that at least," said Alan, with a sigh. "Look at where we are right now. Professor Elm is a world renowned pokémon expert. How did we get tangled up with him? We're just low class zero badge trainers who can barely afford to travel at all. I can hardly believe they're even taking the time out of their day to speak to us, much less asking us for help."

"Dude, stop talking like that. I think we've always looked at the negative publicity surrounding pokémon training and ignored the fact that the pokémon training community is tight knit, and they take care of their own. And pretty soon our teams will be strong enough that we won't have to worry about job security or staying put behind city walls ever again. Just being a one badge trainer opens up a ton of doors. Plus, I don't think you could ever give up on Phanpy either."

* * *

The rest of the week followed in a routine of testing in the morning, and training with the rest of his team in the afternoon. Sometimes they would venture out to the beginning of Route 29 for privacy, other times they would have the Professor and Mr. Pokémon stand by and give out advice. Dixie grew accustomed to the schedule and could perform peck and ember attacks on command by the end of the week. The shy torchic really came out of her shell once she began dishing out attacks. Outside of the battlefield, she could normally be found hiding inside his jacket or in some other odd hiding place.

Felix was steadily increasing the amount of power in his powder snow attack, but at the same time Finn worried that his rate of growth was starting to plateau. Instead of a concentrated blast of ice, he was making it so the attack radius was much wider. A larger stream of ice was necessary for the move to become a proper icy wind, which would have been helpful against the seedot on Route 46. That week Felix also perfected mud bomb, and Finn was trying to figure a way out to begin teaching the creature how to use the bulldoze technique. If Felix could send out waves of dirt, it would help slow down opponents and could hit multiple targets at once. Bulldoze was much different than mud slap and mud bomb though, being from a different family of attacks. Attacks generally followed a progression, starting with a weaker technique that consecutively increased in power with training. A squirtle's water gun attack could eventually become a hydro pump.

Benedict's fighting prowess had greatly improved now that his final egg-head had gained sentience. The exeggcute's hypnosis was now effective more often than not, and its leech seed had come a long way. The seeds now sprouted and drained away its opponent's health while rejuvenating Benedict as he was battling.

Finn himself, had even seen some payoff from all of his training. He could now do one hundred pushups in a row without stopping. When he began in Blackthorn, he could barely finish twenty.

* * *

On the third day that week both Mr. Pokémon and Professor Elm took Finn to the hatchery at the lab. The walls were covered in incubators housing multicolored eggs of all types.

Finn wandered past the rows in admiration. "Wow, how many different species do you breed here?"

"Over fifty. In fact, the starter pokémon that we give out for my annual scholarship have been bred here for the last fifteen years. It doesn't hurt that myself and my team are some of the very few people who know the secrets to successfully breed cyndaquil, chickorita, and totodile. I personally train them until they have a good relationship with humans and can use at least two attacks so that the trainers will have the best chance of success," said Professor Elm with pride in his voice. "The rest are being bred for research purposes, and will then be sold to trainers after my assistants train them up a bit. The revenue helps us keep the lab going." The Professor motioned to one incubator that was issuing smoke from the inside. "As you can see, we also use different incenses to see if we can influence what hatches from certain eggs"

Mr. Pokémon walked over to the counter where Finn recognized his olive-green egg. "We've been taking a look at your larvitar egg, and it does appear to be close to hatching. Our monitors have picked up increasing activity each of the past two days from the original baseline. At this rate we believe it will hatch in the next few days. Hopefully, this will give us some time to study the larvitar before you and the boys leave."

"I sure hope so. I don't really want to linger too long, but I'd appreciate any help you could give," said Finn. "I really don't want to mess this up."

"What we know about young larvitar is very little. We do know that their skin begins much like a regular reptilian pokémon. In fact, its skin will likely resemble your friend's treecko for a time. Over the first few weeks of the larvitar's life its scales will begin to harden, becoming a true rock type by the time it's around one month old. As the species diet typically consists of earth and rock, we would suggest finding at least some extremely hard substances in the beginning to help catalyze the change."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, I'd already thought of something like that. I found a mineral hardness testing kit, and have been collecting some of the harder minerals that I find."

"Very good," said Professor Elm. "We would also very much like it if you would send us some measurement statistics while you're on the road. Nothing too strenuous, I assure you."

"I suppose I could do that, but we won't really be able to give you updates until we reach a town with Pokémon Centers since we don't have phones with us," said Finn.

"About that—this year one of our prospective scholarship pokémon was stolen from the lab. We have our suspicions about who did it, but we have the leftover pokédex that was supposed to go to that trainer. If you and your friends would like to share the device it would probably help us keep in touch."

"Absolutely! But that's too much—I was thinking about taking a loan out on one once I got enough cash for a downpayment," said Finn, eyes bulging.

"I write these pokédex off against the lab's taxes each year, and I surely won't use it here. Think of it as a way to ensure easy access to the data we want from those pokémon," said Professor Elm. "I'm likening your group to the third scholarship recipient for now."

"What happened to the person who was supposed to get the other starter?" asked Finn.

"Well, she decided that she wanted to wait for the perfect starter, so she'll be taking a spot next year."

Part of Finn felt guilty for taking something that the other trainer had obviously studied very hard for, but if nobody was going to use it here, then why not take advantage?

Mr. Pokémon then interjected, "With regards to the larvitar. As a prospective trainer, I would suggest you train it for speed as much as you can during those first few weeks while its skin hardens. I know that hard training for newborns is frowned upon, but I hypothesize that if you are able to train the pokémon to be more agile before its skin fully solidifies, then that speed may well be retained going forward."

"Interesting theory, and I will definitely try that out. Looks like we now have two experiments that deal with pokémon's speed, huh. I'm going to have my hands full," said Finn.

* * *

The week continued as it had been. Training and testing were a constant to their routine. It was two days later during breakfast when the Professor's personal pokédex beeped and then rattled against the shiny metal of the kitchen table. He looked down and read through some data, and grinned over at Finn. "Time to get to the hatchery. It's hatching!"

The group hurried through the laboratory to the room full to the brim with pokémon eggs. Finn spotted his incubator, and took the glass and metal top off. Inside, he could see the egg shaking back and forth. An odd sensation of nervousness and excitement welled in Finn's chest. This pokémon had the potential to change his life. In a way, it already had since the creature was worth more money than Finn thought his stepfather Vince had ever made in his entire life, but it was the pokémon's potential as a battler that Finn was most anxious to see.

Pulling out a spare pokéball, he primed it and readied it to capture the baby pokémon. The pamphlet that Nurse Joy had given him back in Blackthorn spoke of catching a newborn before they fully emerged from the egg in order to ensure an easy capture. If the pokémon hatched and became cognizant of its surroundings, it posed a slightly bigger challenge to capture than otherwise. It might even hurt itself trying to put up a fight. Of course, that all depended on the species.

There was a sound like a wooden ruler being snapped in half, and he saw a stubby green arm jutting out from the olive egg. Viscus puke yellow goo covered the appendage. With care, Finn gently placed the pokéball's sensor against the exposed arm and it disappeared in burst red light.

"Alright Finn, now we should release it in a comfortable area and make sure that you are the first person it sees. With luck, that will help you form a strong parental bond," said Mr. Pokémon.

They found themselves upon a swath of earth that was littered with rounded stones and tufts of gnarly grass.

"This part of the enclosure should resemble larvitar's natural habitat enough that it may feel a bit more comfortable. The rest of us are going to observe from behind that boulder. Feel free to release the larvitar whenever you are ready Finn," said Professor Elm.

Finn unzipped a pouch in his pack and pulled out a small sack where he had been placing promising looking rocks. He then released Felix, Benedict, and Dixie all behind him. He crouched down to their level and said, "Listen you all, we have a new member of the team that we're all about to meet. I want you to be welcoming. It's just a baby so we need to be gentle, ok?"

Felix looked over at his two other companions and nodded his furry head once. Dixie was slowly making her way to hide behind Finn's legs, and Benedict glowed purple for a moment giving Finn a feeling of acceptance in his mind. That taken care of Finn turned and released his newest pokémon onto the floor in front of him. He wanted to be the first person that the larvitar would see.

It had dark green skin that almost looked like tiny rounded pebbles. There were black sunken geometric shapes underneath its eyes and on either side of its torso. A diamond red plate adorned its stomach and its tail was frilled on each side. For a newborn, Finn was amazed by the emotion the little creature could put into its gaze. Was it angry or judging him right now? Its lips furled upwards baring its small sharp fangs at him. Standing at only around a foot in height, the larvitar lowered the small horn on his head and charged at Finn with a low growling sound.

Not wasting any time Finn pulled out its ball and returned the pokémon. Sweat formed on his forehead at he looked over to where the rest were watching. "Well, that could've gone better," he said.

The group walked over to Finn and the Professor said, "Baby pokémon are not normally that aggressive right off the bat. I know that tyranitar gain a dark type disposition when they evolve. Maybe certain traits of theirs are carried over to their offspring? Incredible."

"So, what am I supposed to do then?" asked Finn.

"Well, dark types are notoriously difficult to raise, but in my experience a stiff hand and a bit of persistence are key," said the Professor.

"I think it might take a long time to gain that little fella's trust Finn," smirked Orion.

"It will probably be a challenge, but there's a reason so few trainers care for the larvitar line. I think you'll just have to work with it through trial and error," said Mr. Pokémon.

* * *

Their time at Professor Elm's came to an end, and the three teenagers found themselves restocking their supplies in order to get back on the road. The Professor and Mr. Pokémon wished them well and gave them instructions on how they wanted the data from their Hoenn pokémon.

Route 29 stretched from New Bark to Cherrygrove, and was known to be one of the easiest routes to travel through in all of Johto. The trees along the route grew together in a dense mass, making it hard for larger pokémon to navigate, so it was often a breeding ground for young non-evolved pokémon like pidgey, sentret, and rattata. The small pokémon finding safety in the dense foliage. It should only take the group a couple of weeks to make the journey, and Finn was anxious to finally get to Violet city and take on Falkner. He thought that his team was probably already well enough prepared to take on the flying type trainer's zero badge team. Finn's group had been training for much longer than most took prior to taking on their first Gym.

Bright sun shone down upon the packed dirt path that led from New Bark into Route 29. The route was much wider and well used than their trek down from Blackthorn. The thick groups of trees on either side were full of bright green leaves. They saw the occasional small pokémon dart through the greenery in their natural element. Finn had Dixie perched upon his shoulder and Felix was plodding along next to him as they walked.

As was their norm, Finn woke up early and trained his team. Larvitar had not been cooperative at all, but he had eventually gotten the creature to eat some of the hard rocks that he had saved for its hatching. When Larvitar had finished its meal, it dove into the earth and Finn had a minor freak out thinking that it would tunnel away from him and they would have to go search for it off-route. Finn asked Felix to feel into the earth and dig after it and to make sure it did not escape. Seconds later, Larvitar emerged from the ground right underneath Finn's feet, clamping its sharp jaws around his foot. The lizard pokémon's teeth mashed down onto the leather of Finn's boot. Thankfully, Larvitar's bite was not strong enough to get very far past the thick leather and his foot only had a minor cut, but he would need to purchase a new pair of boots once they reached Cherrygrove. Finn hoped he would have the chance to battle more trainers on this route than on Route 45 and 46. Money would probably get tight feeding four pokémon as well as himself.

Felix tended to one-shot the pidgey and rattata in the area with a well-placed powder snow attack. Benedict had some more trouble with the flying types, but also beat almost every wild encounter they faced. Dixie was still learning the ropes, and often had to rest after these battles. Finn was also trying to train Larvitar for speed. The pokémon was not friendly, but he knew where his food came from. Finn had the idea to hold a medium sized stone in his hands and sprint away from Larvitar, and have the small creature try and catch him for its food. If it caught him, then it would receive the stone as a reward. As the days passed, this seemed to be working as Larvitar was catching him more and more often. Finn still had not come up with a nickname for him yet, that would be something for when he was finally tamed.

* * *

A few days into their journey, the glow of the campfire reflected off the faces of the three boys as they cooked some tauros jerky and rice for dinner. Finn had been very self-absorbed as they traveled, focusing mostly on his training and had not spent too much time talking with the others.

"So, I know I've been pretty busy trying to get Larvitar under control, but how's all of your training going?" asked Finn.

Orion's horsea was serenely floating next to him when he answered, "Pretty great actually. I'm mostly focusing on Darya and Drake right now since Magikarp can't do much without a water source nearby. I actually think I've figured out something about Drake's unique ability. If I feed him a berry before or while he is battling, he gets _way_ faster. It's been pretty useful against the few trainers we've had the chance to face out here."

"Oh, you named Treecko Drake?" asked Alan.

"Yeah, he may not be a true dragon, but when he evolves into a sceptile, he'll certainly have the look," Orion replied.

"What about you Alan? Are you getting along with Shroomish?" asked Finn.

"To be honest, Shroomish is a little slow. I mean, he listens to me, but sometimes it's like his reaction time to my attack commands is on a three or five second delay." Alan patted the little mushroom pokémon next to him, which looked like it had no idea it was being talked about.

Finn chuckled a bit, "Well that's good. I tell you what though, if someone offers you an egg, take some time to think about it. The amount of time I've had to spend trying to tame Larvitar is ridiculous."

"Has he stopped biting you yet?" asked Orion, smirking.

Finn moved over to their fire and stirred the small pot of food they were cooking. "It's a work in progress, but I think the little guy definitely looks at me like a caretaker now, even if he still likes to charge at me with his teeth bared. It's almost cute," said Finn. "How are you guys holding up, though. It's amazing how much simpler this route is than Route 45 and 46. I'm pretty happy to have no life or death encounters so far."

Alan shivered and nodded. "For sure, but thanks for jynxing that!"

"I'm doing better, still a bit shaken up though. It's not every day the Pokémon League Champion saves you from homicidal grass pokémon. I will tell you that the pokédex the Professor gave us is amazing. It has been nice being able to call home and let my parents know how we were doing. They already love Drake," said Orion, the other boy not noticing how subdued Finn and Alan became at the mention of his family.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, Finn said, "Well let's finish up dinner and get to bed, Alan you said you'd take first watch tonight right?"

As they traveled deeper into the route, they found more trainers within their badge level to train against. Most were remnants from the Cherrygrove tournament and were trying to get better before facing their first Gym challenge. Finn did not lose a single match, and even Dixie was beginning to come into her own, her speed ability making her a difficult target to hit. Although the low badge trainers did not have a ton of cash on them, he still made some decent money. Felix was growing even larger than before, and a small ridge had begun to form on the top of his back, making Finn think that the swinub may be on his way to evolution.

They were battling a single badge trainer using a metapod, when Felix surprised him with his ingenuity.

Finn called out, "Felix use tackle!"

Instead of sprinting at the other pokémon and hitting him with the crown of his head like he usually did, Felix shot out a jet of ice onto the dirt in front of himself and hurled himself onto the ice. The slippery ice propelled the ice ground type at a much greater speed than he was normally capable of and slamming into the bug pokémon, knocking it out instantly. Finn decided to train Felix to use that move on command, deciding to call the move 'ice tackle.'

Larvitar continued to be a little bastard. Finn had cuts and bruises all over his arms and legs where the creature had bitten him or tried to gouge him with his horn. Larvitar's skin was growing tougher with each passing day, which sometimes had Finn using his other pokémon to control the rock ground type. Sometimes, he even used his hunting knife to get the point across.

"Larvitar, no!" said Finn, pointing and glaring at the small green pokémon, which was currently sprinting after him with his horn angled downwards. "Benedict now!"

The psychic type glowed and used confusion to lift Larvitar off the ground. His little legs continued to pump furiously in the air. Upon noticing that he was no longer on the ground, Larvitar gazed at Finn with hate in his eyes.

"Larvitar, when are you going to learn that I am here to help you?" Finn asked. He pulled out a rock the size of his fist and brought it over to the still floating pokémon.

"If you can behave, I will give you this." Larvitar glanced back and forth between the rock and Finn, before finally giving a sharp nod. "Good boy," said Finn. "Benedict you can put him down now."

Finn felt a wash of concerned emotions emanating from his exeggcute before the pokémon lowered Larvitar to the ground. Finn held out the rock in front of Larvitar and spoke, "Listen Larvitar. I know you don't like training and you don't like us right now. But that's over now! We're going to be a team and I want you to become the strongest tyranitar possible. To do that you're going to have to learn to listen to me." A mutinous glare came from Larvitar and after a moment, the ground type lowered himself onto his haunches and waited.

Finn moved closer and placed the rock on the ground in front of Larvitar, which quickly disappeared into Larvitar's snapping jaws.

"Good job. Soon we'll be teaching you attacks while continuing to focus on your speed," said Finn.

He inched closer to pat the pokémon on his head, when Larvitar sprang up and tried to bite Finn's hand. If Benedict had not been keeping a close watch, Finn may have been down a finger or two. Floating in the air, Larvitar's eyes screamed with malice at Benedict before Finn said, "No more rocks for the rest of the day then." Finn then recalled the creature into his pokéball.

Finn was well aware of how smart the hostile pokémon was. The small rock lizard had only been alive for a week and he was understanding language and felt strong emotions. Larvitar knew that he could not take Benedict in a fair fight, so he had yet to attack the other pokémon, but Finn could tell that he wanted to. This meant that Finn had to keep Larvitar in his ball most of the time. Unless they were doing speed drills or feeding, Larvitar stayed locked away. Besides not having a psychotic pokémon attacking everything all of the time, this had the added benefit of not letting other trainers see the rare pokémon. He was going to try and keep him a secret until he had beaten Whitney in Goldenrod city at the very earliest.

The hike was not nearly as taxing as traversing the mountain routes, but they still were fatigued from spending every day training and walking. They were passing through a grove of flowering apricorn trees when a pokémon jumped into the center of the route its mouth open and snarling. Finn felt a chill at the base of his spine as the cat-like pokémon glared the group down. The feline had mostly deep blue fur with a yellow star on its tail. A shinx, which were quite rare in Johto.

"Dibs!" shouted Alan, and he turned to Phanpy, who had been traveling at his trainer's side. "Phanpy, rollout now!"

Orion turned to Finn with a sigh. "Damn, I was hoping to catch an electric type to help me beat Falkner. Drake is weak to flying types and Magikarp is unusable right now."

Keeping an eye on the battle Finn replied, "There'll be more, man. Plus, Alan needs another team member. We both already have more pokémon than him."

Finn watched as the blue elephant pokémon curled its body into a ball and shot itself across the dirt at the opposing pokémon like a wheel. Thinking about the shinx family made Finn realize that they could be in trouble here. He turned and looked deeply into the forest where the shinx had come from. It was uncommon for the large feline pokémon to travel by themselves, and fully grown luxray were no joke. He even released Felix, Benedict, and Dixie as a precaution.

Thankfully no pride of big cats emerged from the forest, and Alan eventually caught the shinx.

Relief was palpable when the group finally reached Cherrygrove. Wind whirled around them as the trees gave way to the view of an oceanside town. The tallest buildings in the town were only four stories tall, and the protective walls of the city reached almost as high. This was the place that they were supposed to start their journey with the tournament, but circumstance and some misfortune had taken the group of teenagers down another path. While nothing terrible had happened on the Route 29, they were all exhausted from sleeping outdoors. Internally, Finn was excited. After a few days rest they would be on their way to finally take on a Gym leader in Violet city. He only hoped they were ready.

* * *

**Finn:**  
Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
? – Larvitar  
Dixie - Torchic

**Orion:**  
Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp  
Drake - Treecko

**Alan:**  
? - Phanpy  
? - Shroomish  
? - Shinx


	7. When a Fire Starts to Burn

**Chapter 7:  
**  
He, Alan, and Orion stayed in the city for three days, taking advantage of the warm beds and showers at the Pokémon Center, while taking some time to rest and stock up on supplies before heading back out onto the routes. There was no better feeling than relaxing under a hot shower after weeks in the wilderness, allowing the warm water to wash away the dirt and grime.

Cherrygrove's Center had a bulletin that filled people in on what was going on in the locality. Finn saw fliers indicating that metapod and kakuna were being found mutilated along Route 30, giving a number for anyone to call if they discovered something. The indiscriminate mass killing of pokémon was severely frowned upon by the League. If enough pokémon perished too quickly, it often caused swarms of pokémon to attack the nearby cities in retribution. There were also posters of missing trainers from the past few months. Such disappearances happened frequently enough that every young trainer knew to train hard and be prepared.

All of the vendors from the tournament had long since left the city by the time they got there, returning the city to its normal, rather sedate pace of life. In those three days, Finn found the time for some deep thinking about the future of his journey.

"Guys, I feel like I might need to change direction on what pokémon I've been capturing," said Finn, resting the back of his head against the plush red booth of the diner they were eating at. Supposedly, this restaurant was home to Cherrygrove's best tauros burger. "I've been thinking about it. Mamoswine, exeggcutor, tyranitar, and blaziken are all pokémon that dish out strong attacks, but I don't have any pokémon that can take a hit. Have you all thought about that at all?"

Orion grinned. "Not really Finn, dragons are known for their all-out offense. They also aren't too shabby defensively except against ice types or other dragons. Do you know of any dragon trainers that have specialized defenders? I've only heard of a few species, and they're very rare," said Orion.

"I've just been catching pokémon that seem to compliment my team's future typing composition. But donphan are known to be somewhat bulky, so I have that going for me right now," said Alan.

"I feel like that strategy works fine when you're just starting out, but once you have three or four pokémon you have to start thinking strategically about the pokémon that might complete your team of six. I've been thinking about catching a water type that can tank some strong attacks and potentially a steel type of some sort if I can find one. Preferably, I'd like something that can change the field conditions to my favor."

"Well, tyranitar can learn a few moves like stealth rock that can make the battle field more taxing on your opponents. But yes, generally speaking, besides a rock type, you'll want to find a steel or poison type if you want to set up hazards for your opponents," said Alan.

"So you have put some thought into this then!" said Finn.

Alan blinked and sat back further. "I mean, I've just done what we all have. Watching League matches and Gym leader exhibitions tends to give you a decent idea of what strategies work and what doesn't. Leader Jasmine's steel team uses a mix of rock and metal hazards to make the field of battle difficult for anyone but her own steel types to use. Her skarmory puts down spiky pieces of metal that don't affect her steel team, while at the same time making any opposing terrestrial pokémon have a nightmare of a time trying to avoid them."

"Talking about team compositions—I have a request for you all," said Orion, becoming serious for a moment. "I need an electric type to help me with Falkner's gym and I've been using the pokédex to decide on what to catch. Flocks of wild mareep gather in an area a little north of where Routes 30 and 31 meet, just before we get to Violet city."

"That shouldn't be a problem," said Finn, Alan nodding at his side.

"Yeah, Shinx has been great for me. With all of the practice he's getting against the pidgey and hoothoot around here, it feels like he's already my strongest pokémon."

"There's one problem though," said Orion, "The fields are a bit off-route. It's about four miles north from where Route 30 meets Route 31,"

Alan's hand clenched when he heard Orion's announcement.

"No," said Alan. "You can go as far out as you like, but I won't do it again."

Finn just sighed; he was starting to get a sense of the different personalities of his traveling companions. He leaned forward and propped his elbows up on the table.

"Team building is important, and I think we have already had a heck of a time adjusting to becoming traveling trainers. But I won't let you go alone. Route 30 and 31 tend to be by far the safest of the routes in Johto. Alan, if you want to camp out where we leave the route and wait for us there or meet us in Violet, that's up to you. We can always just play it by ear," said Finn.

* * *

Since he felt like he had been training his team non-stop for the past few weeks, Finn had allowed them a day of rest. Although, he did leave some time for some speed drills with Larvitar not wanting to risk losing the window of time while the rock type's skin was hardening like Mr. Pokémon had suggested. The pokémon was still obstinate and barely cooperated with him, but the little guy would chase him in sprinting drills so long as he was rewarded with hard stones at the end. On that particular day, Finn left the training session with only one minor bruise on his calf to add to his collection.

In the time that Finn was letting his team relax, he began studying up more on competitive team composition. His goal was to compete in the Johto Pokémon League and to make a name and career for himself. Being the best was obviously a goal, but even the trainers that 'make it' often could not compete with the likes of Lance and Agatha.

Good trainers came in all shapes and sizes. Archeological expeditions always needed pokémon trainers to protect their scientists and let them do their jobs. Corporations hired trainers to protect their assets while they were being shipped or flown around the world. Being good enough to gain sponsors, procure stud fees from his pokémon, and all of the other odd jobs that required strong trainers was Finn's more realistic dream.

People could start networking for jobs like that generally after five badges. Four badges were seen as a cut off for when a trainer became serious. Often times, the fifth gym badge was one of the hardest fought battles an aspiring trainer faced during his journey because it was seen as a milestone for the truly committed trainer. Finn had even contemplated joining ACE or the Rangers if he fared well enough on the Gym circuit. What he had been doing in simply catching whatever pokémon he came across was not going to cut it at the highest levels of pokémon training.

None of the pokémon he'd captured were very defensively oriented. Yes, Felix could use a rudimentary form of the protect technique that Clair had given him, but the pokémon and its evolved forms were much more suited to physically dishing out attacks rather than tanking them. While tyranitar, with their rock skin, may have seemed like a defensive pokémon, fighting types took advantage of their extreme weakness to those type attacks.

That realization was what brought him to searching catalogues of pokémon battles and famous trainers, looking for potential pokémon partners that specialized in defense and trickery instead of solely all out offense. He needed ones that also met his needs for type composition as well. Most of the very strongest contenders were also extremely uncommon such as skarmory, blissey, ferrothorn, slowbro, corviknight, gliscor, aggron, tentacruel, toxapex, and vaporeon. Of those pokémon, only a few were native to Johto. Finding a wild chansey or blissey would take similar luck that it took in finding his larvitar. Captive breeding efforts for those pokémon were under the specific domain of the Pokémon Centers and the League. Skarmory would be great, but rearing one took an insane amount of work and dedication. The ornery steel types had a rebellious streak a mile long. It was probably not feasible while Finn was building his team on the road.

The Safari Zone located in Cianwood normally held many exotic pokémon, but the group was still likely months away from there, barring an intentional trip.

There was also type synergy to think about. He needed a water type on his team. Survival was usually easier when your pokémon could provide fresh water in an emergency situation. They were lucky that most of their travels had been near water thus far, and that Orion's horsea had fairly large water stores for its size. Of the water types he was considering, slowpoke could be found throughout Johto, but Finn was not sure that doubling up on psychic type weaknesses with Benedict would be a good idea.

A quick search on the group's pokédex gave Finn a lead. It was a news article from the Olivine Tribune concerning the health of the reefs surrounding the city. Apparently, the unevolved form of toxapex, mareanie, were becoming a pest to the corsola reefs from Olivine city to Cianwood after making their way to Johto from Galar. They had been using their tentacles to affix themselves to the bottom of cargo ships, allowing them to travel much further from their natural range than ever before. In doing so, the water types found a buffet of corsola to feed upon all the while releasing toxic byproducts into the ocean water. It was costing the city tourism revenue.

The city was even encouraging trainers to capture all of the mareanie they could in order to help protect the native species. Finn decided then and there that he would try to capture one before he got his fifth badge from Jasmine in Olivine. Either that, or he would look on the Trainer's Trading Guild website to see if anyone was trying to sell or trade one. The pokémon could lay poisonous hazards throughout the terrain, heal itself, and whittle away at its opponent's health all while hiding behind the sea creature's thick legs.

* * *

The burgeoning morning sky on Route 30 was quickly changing from a bruised shade of blue to a clear cyan. A bleary-eyed Finn balled his fists and rubbed the grit from his eyes while trying to wake up. His bedroll was thin and the stones that littered the ground on this stretch of the route had been awkward to sleep on.

Dixie chirped and hopped up onto Finn's chest looking down at him inquisitively, her newfound weight causing Finn to wheeze and sit up. The torchic had grown in leaps and bounds in the weeks since he had received her. Her talons were thicker and her feather crests now reached up to Finn's knees. The fire type had taken to sleeping by his head at night, which Finn had not objected to in the slightest. Dixie radiated a subtle heat and could hear a predator or incoming group long before Finn himself could.

Situated in-between Finn and the still smoldering fire from the night before lay Felix, still deep asleep. The swinub's muzzle was damp with snot.

The group was on well on their way to Violet now, reaching near the end of Route 30, just days away from the city, and not far from where the map said they would need to go into the woods to find Orion's flock of wild mareep.

Propping himself up, he looked over to see Benedict enjoying the early morning sunshine. The fact that his excitable seed pokémon only needed sunlight for food had sure been a boon to Finn's wallet when they had restocked their supplies in Cherrygrove. A small crack had begun to form on the larger of the pokémon's bulbous heads. According to the literature, exeggcute's heads stored energy as they grew and got closer to evolution. When they were ready, all of the heads would begin to crack open, exposing their nut-like brains.

A glance around the camp told him that Orion had already left for the morning to train his magikarp. It was becoming a habit for the other trainer whenever they camped near a lake or pond. Alan was still snoozing nearby, his phanpy snuggled underneath one of his arms.

Curious, Finn followed the dirt path towards the small pond they had passed prior to setting up camp, assuming that was were Orion would be. The other teen's pants were rolled up past his knees, and he had waded into the water to direct magikarp. Darya was flitting around in the water listening to her trainer commanding the other fish pokémon. Magikarp was mostly submerged, with just its eyes and mouth above the surface. Finn looked on in shock as it appeared that Magikarp was actually listening to Orion.

"Magikarp, I need you to really push yourself. So far, we've just been working on speed but I want you to try and use that speed to launch yourself out of the water and attack Darya here. Use your tail," said Orion, pointing to his horsea.

Finn watched from a distance as the fish pokémon tried its best to complete the attack as requested. It backed up in the water before swishing its tail rapidly, speeding towards Darya before it leaped out of the water and flopped about in the air before splashing down in front of the regal seahorse, leaving the other pokémon untouched.

"That's honestly a lot better than I thought you'd fair training a magikarp," said Finn, startling Orion.

Sheepishly, Orion cast his eyes downward. There were water stains covering his plaid travel shirt from Magikarp's failed attempt. "Heh, thanks Finn. It seems like Magikarp is making some incremental improvement—even listening to me most of the time now. I doubt he'll be ready for any sort of battling for a while though. Is Alan awake yet?"

"Nope, still out like a light. You're up earlier than usual. What gives?" said Finn.

"Couldn't sleep, figured I'd give Magikarp some one-on-one time while we were still close to some water. How long till we head out do you think?"

"Pretty soon, I'll probably get some training in and then hunt up a pidgey for lunch. I think we're only a few miles from where we need to leave the route," said Finn, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Also, how's your shoulder doing?"

Orion had taken a hard tackle attack from a spearow a few days previously. It had happened lightning fast, and the group had barely had time to react. By the time Felix blasted the bird with a strong powder snow chasing it away, the damage was already done. He was lucky that the tempestuous species of flying pokémon had not used its beak in the attack or Orion may have been in serious trouble. As it was, the other boy had a large apricorn sized welt on his upper left chest.

"It's still sore, but it's not debilitating," replied Orion. "Anyway, I'm going to get back to Magikarp here for a while. If I'm not back in time before you guys decide to start moving come and get me," said Orion.

"Will do, man."

Training took up the next two hours of Finn's time. He was trying to coax Larvitar into training with the team on a more voluntarily basis. Felix, Benedict, and Dixie were all leering at the stone lizard from behind Finn.

"What is it going to take before you start to act like a real member of this team Larvitar?" said Finn, sternly.

The olive green pokémon just narrowed his eyes at Finn and looked away. His skin was hardening every day and Finn was worried that his chasing exercises were not going to be enough to help the pokémon keep his speed through the transition. He decided that maybe a more direct approach was needed. Yes, Larvitar was a baby, but he was a sadistic pokémon and was naturally very tough. Pokémon in general could take massive amounts of damage and still recover. In nature, the creatures battled constantly whether it be for territory, food, or for mates. The larvitar should be able to withstand anything Finn dished out.

"Ok, here's how it going to go Larvitar. The team will be doing ten timed sprints across the field and back. If at any time you fail to comply with this command, you will battle with one of Felix, Dixie, or Benedict. Trust me, you do not want to do that."

Of course, Larvitar made it about four laps before deciding to bury himself in the ground.

Finn made sure Dixie took her time in defeating him, so that he would know how far he had to go in order to be as strong as a member of the team. Even while trying to hold back, it only took four of his torchic's peck attacks for Larvitar to be rendered unconscious.

Part of Finn was upset with himself for having to resort to this type of physical discipline. Was it not the best trainer who could get the most out of his team without resorting to this type of punishment? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe some pokémon species could only understand one thing?

Finn scooped the injured pokémon gently in his arms and applied a potion to his wounds, his arms straining slightly with the heavy pokémon. Staring intently at Larvitar's eyes until he woke up, Finn made sure that the baby pokémon saw him care for his wounds before he returned him to his pokéball. He did not want the creature to think him unnecessarily cruel.

* * *

It is impossible to travel with people for as long as the three teens had without picking up on certain things. Orion was meticulously organized. He trained at dawn every morning until lunchtime. Then he would take a break, eat, and study the pokédex for information of the pokémon he was training. Maybe this was a habit picked up at the Blackthorn gym, maybe it was his parent's upbringing, but he was very sensitive if the group needed to diverge from the routine. When the group traveled in the afternoons, occasionally battling other trainers he noticed that Orion seemed to always start with his weakest team member, and anchored his team with Darya, who was quickly becoming a powerhouse. Her scales were much thicker than when Orion received her from Clair. The other teen would be so focused and intense in the mornings, but would become his usual boisterous self when they began to hike in the afternoons.

Alan was the opposite in that he did not wake up until well after both Finn and Orion had already begun training. The other teen still trained his team, just not in the regimented style that Finn and Orion seemed to favor. He like to casually train in the morning, but take on more trainer battles in the afternoons when they were hiking.

Alan's attitude towards training was a point of friction between the two. While Orion was too calm to make it a big deal, Finn could see that Orion was beginning to give Alan the cold shoulder more often than before. Alan's style was somewhat slowing them down in the afternoons. Finn ended up having to act as a mediator when decisions about when they would travel or train became an issue.

Finn noticed other things as well. Orion would sometimes talk in his sleep. One night, Finn had heard him mutter 'grass knife' in his sleep, probably having a nightmare about the incident with the nuzleaf. In a similar fashion, Alan would grow quiet when they talked about Finn and Orion's upcoming venture off-route.

* * *

The sun was high above the groups' heads as they crested the top of a particularly large hill. There, situated next to the path was a large sign indicating that the group had just reached Route 31 and they were merely ten miles from the outskirts of Violet city. This meant it was time to continue north into the old growth forest until they reached a series of meadows that were supposed to be home to many electric sheep.

All of the sudden, swanna bumps popped up all over his skin. It felt like the weather dropped a few degrees. A chill in the air blew with the wind.

"Do you guys feel that?" asked Finn.

"What?" asked Orion.

"It just felt like the temperature dropped—you didn't feel that?"

"Nope, but this is where we're supposed to go into the forest I think," said Orion, looking down at the pokédex, which was doubling as the group's map.

Alan seemed hesitant, but he said, "You guys be careful ok. I'll stay here and train while you're gone. If you don't come back by noon tomorrow I'm going to try and find some Rangers."

"Thanks buddy," said Finn, seriously. "Train hard."

Finn took a deep breath while gathering up a repel to place within easy reach. This would be a true test. Of course, it was not the same as the truly untamed wilderness near Blackthorn, but Finn was hoping to prove himself ready to take on an off-route forest, even if it was more regularly patrolled by Rangers than most. He figured it would only be slightly more dangerous than just the marked routes themselves.

The forest was vast. Massive elm, chestnut, and poplar trees towered above them, blocking out the sunlight from above. The light that dappled down did not allow for much undergrowth, just the occasional bush or sapling. Thankfully, this made it easier to spot if any pokémon were waiting in ambush.

At one point Benedict sent a geodude, unsuccessfully pretending to be a normal rock, rolling away down a ravine. They continued down a narrow dirt path that was often hard to tell from the natural forest floor.

They kept walking, and Finn began to hear the signs of pokémon using attacks. As was typical, he took out some repel and slowed down, taking care to try and stay quiet. It was never a sure thing that what they ran into was going to be trainers or a dangerous pokémon.

Eventually, a clearing emerged from the trees and they saw the silhouette of two people standing with their pokémon. The sun glared off a coat of fresh snow making the small clearing appear supernaturally bright. Standing at opposite ends of the open space stood two oddly familiar faces. On the left, a teenage girl with deep sky-blue hair stood calling out commands to a yellow and green dinosaurian pokémon, which appeared to struggle with having its legs knee deep in the icy snow. On the right was another trainer, probably a couple of years older than they were. He had burgundy hair and a severe demeanor about him.

Finn was trying to remember where he had seen the other trainer when he saw the jynx standing at his side. It hit him—Clair's gym—this was Ian Phipps, whose jynx had gone toe to toe with Clair for his last badge before ultimately losing the match. His jynx looked to have covered the field in snow for some reason. Ian's clothes looked as if he had not seen civilization in a while. Both of them noticed he and Orion's arrival with somewhat abashed looks.

Orion made to move closer to the trainers and waved. "Uhh, hello? We heard the racket and decided to come over. Is everything ok here?" he said.

"What are you guys doing off-route?" asked Finn.

"What's it look like," said Ian, indifferently. "We're training."

"I recognize you!" said Orion. "You won the tournament in Cherrygrove!" Orion pointed at the blue haired girl in accusation.

"Oh yeah—Professor Elm mentioned you—you're Lyra!" said Finn.

Ian sighed and looked over at Lyra. "I guess we deserve this. We should have been more discrete."

"Everything is fine, you can go back to whatever you were doing. We were just training," said Lyra, turning to face the three teens.

Finn absorbed all of this information and decided right then and there that he needed to challenge Lyra. For one, he wanted to see where he was as a trainer and a battle with the winner of the Cherrygrove tournament would show that. For another, he had beaten Silver, who had taken Lyra to her last pokémon in the tournament. That thought firmly in his mind, he recalled Felix who had been walking with him, took a deep breath and then crunched through the snow across the field.

"Lyra, my name is Finn Abernathy and I would like to challenge you to a battle," he said, staring straight into Lyra's blue eyes. Behind him, Orion and Ian goggled at Finn's gall. They had just interrupted their training session. Challenging someone while they were obviously training was considered somewhat rude per trainer etiquette.

Lyra blushed. "So forward—but I guess I could take a break from our training session to appease you. How many badges do you have?"

It was Finn's turn to blush. "Well, none at the moment, but I plan on facing Falkner in the next week or so."

"Hmm, no badges. I just have Falkner's at the moment, myself. But I don't recall seeing you at the rookie tournament. Where were you?"

"We got held up in Blackthorn, and couldn't make it. But I did beat that trainer you faced in the finals though, he was a jackass," said Finn, smirking.

Lyra's brows rose in surprise, and she paused. "I think that I just might like you, Finn Abernathy. How many pokémon do you have?" she asked.

"Four right now, but only three that I feel comfortable using in battle," said Finn.

"Same here, how about we do a two versus two match? That way we'll at the very least still have one pokémon to defend ourselves if the other two get knocked out," said Lyra.

"You're on," said Finn. He thought for a moment about which of his team members he was going to use. Larvitar was out of the question for many reasons. He had seen that Lyra had a bayleef, which meant both Felix and Dixie would be good choices depending on what her second selection would be. Finn remembered that the Cherrygrove champion had used a pidgey in one of her earlier matches in the tournament. Felix, besides being his strongest team member, should be strong against at least one of her choices. Dixie would also be strong against the bayleef. Decided, the two trainers moved to opposite sides of the field.

"Ladies first," Finn called out.

"At the same time then," replied Lyra, eyes sparkling with mirth.

Not wanting to bicker further, Finn reached for Felix's pokéball and tossed it out onto the snow ridden field. "Let's go Felix!"

"You're up, Whisper!" shouted Lyra.

In a flash, a magnificent pidgeotto materialized onto the field. The bird pokémon's wing span reached seven feet and its gold and red plumage shone brightly in the sun.

"This will give you a glimpse into how tough Falkner will be," said Lyra. "Whisper, use gust!"

"Under ground, then powder snow full power!" said Finn.

While his swinub could not use a proper dig attack, the swine pokémon was able to burry himself underneath the ground and move around. The snow on the ground gave Felix the cover he needed to get outside the range of the gust attack and safely into the dirt. A swirl of ice and dirt formed but had no effect on Felix. In this scenario, digging was almost as good as a protect attack. With an agile move Felix moved swiftly through the earth until he was directly underneath the bird pokémon. Felix's powder snow was aided by the field's snowy conditions and shot into the air with fury. Despite the move's speed, Lyra's pidgeotto was still faster and was only clipped on its left wing by the maelstrom of ice and snow, which made the flying type corkscrew in the air and let out a cry of pain.

"It's hiding Whisper! Keep an eye out for any movements in the snow and use quick attack and peck!"

"Powder snow again!"

In a stunning display of speed, Lyra's pokémon disappeared and reappeared seconds later right over top of where Felix lay hidden. Using its beak, the bird collided with the ground sending clods of dirt and snow flying everywhere. Somehow, Felix was still able to get off an attack. This time, the Felix's aim was true, and spots of red began to form where the ice hit its mark, and bits of snow were lodged into Whisper's wing feathers. The pidgeotto was still clearly able to battle though. It craned its neck back and screeched into the air in a battle cry.

The earth rumbled and Felix appeared next to Finn. He was panting and looking up at him for instruction. It was evident that the swine pokémon was not fast enough to keep up with the flying type for long, and could not hide underground forever. The surrounding dirt seemed to be composed of larger stones interspersed with dirt, making it hard for Felix to move very quickly while submerged. This was going to have to end in a test of brute strength. Finn did have one last trick up his sleeve.

"Ice tackle and get into position for a powder snow!" called Finn.

Lyra called out the same command as before. When the pidgeotto disappeared this time, Felix created a swath of ice in front of himself and launched his body forward. While sliding, the boar pokémon casually twisted his body, turning about face whilst sliding so that he was facing back towards where Finn stood. Then, the opposing bird type appeared and landed a peck attack onto the ground in the place where Felix had just been. Coming up empty handed, the flying type glanced over in surprise at where Felix was preparing another powder snow attack. In desperation, pidgeotto went for another quick attack. At the same moment Felix reared up onto his hind legs and blew out a veritable storm of ice at the pidgeotto.

Finn was in awe, it looked like Felix had finally broken through and used the middle-tier move icy wind.

Each piece of ice was directly on target, but the flying type had already redirected all of its momentum towards Felix. Flying through the shards of ice and taking hits, the bird crashed into Felix. The force of its body left the pidgeotto rolling across the field to a stop. Simultaneously, Felix was rendered unconscious by the blow.

Letting out a breath he had been holding, Finn grabbed his pokémon's ball and returned him. "Great job buddy," said Finn.

"A draw—impressive. Whisper has not fallen in battle against a pokémon at our gym badge tier in a while now," said Lyra, as she returned the flying type and released her next pokémon.

Her bayleef was back on the field. The grass type was tall enough that the leaf protruding from its skull nearly reached Lyra's shoulders. For such a cheerful looking pokémon, its eyes were squinting in a hard look, seemingly trying its best to ignore the thick snow on the ground.

"Dixie, you're up!" shouted Finn, tossing her ball next to his feet.

The fire type bird immediately hid behind Finn's leg, peering out at the grass dinosaur across the field.

"C'mon Dixie, you've got to stop this. I know you like battling. Let's do this like we've been practicing. Focus energy, then try and blind it with ember's while you get your speed up," said Finn.

Dixie bent her knees and a wave of energy seemed to burst from around her. Then she went into action, sprinting across the field. Unfortunately, her stubby legs did not leave much room for her body above the snow.

Finn cursed. That snow was going to melt around Dixie and leave her wet, weakening her.

"Frond! Use razor leaf!"

The yellow grass type shook its head back and forth, causing the jutting green leaves that circled its neck to vibrate up and down. A swarm of green projectiles flew from the pokémon's body, aimed directly at his torchic.

Finn's mind was suddenly thrown back to their group's battle with the seedot and nuzleaf on Route 46. For a moment he froze, the memories from that night catching up with him. In the time it took for Finn to reorient himself, Dixie was hit by a smattering of three different razor leaves, leaving small cuts in their wake. In the fire types defense, she continued to propel herself forward and let out two balls of flame and shot them towards the bayleef, charring the opposing grass type's yellow skin. The bayleef gritted its teeth in pain, and looked back at its trainer.

"Try a poison powder Frond!"

"Dixie get out of there as fast as you can!"

Thanks to her unique ability, Dixie had been quietly speeding up during the initial foray, but she had not yet gotten to the point where the increase in speed allowed her to move indiscriminately. Dixie plowed through the snow back towards Finn, a cloud of purple noxious spores following close behind. It appeared that few of the spores had reached her. Unfortunately, the fire type's plumage surrounding her legs was soaked in water from the snow. This was causing the fire type to struggle. She was shivering slightly and letting out a pained chirp with each breath.

Finn realized why Ian had made his jynx cover the field in snow. They were training Lyra's bayleef to resist its weakness.

"Dixie try and melt some of the snow around you. Mass ember!"

"Frond, use razor leaf!"

The fire type had strong reserves for her size, but could not clear an entire field of snow. The wall of fire she threw out around her melted the snow in about a ten-foot circle. It also had the added bonus of burning up most of bayleaf's incoming razor leaves, only one or two making it through the flames and striking Dixie.

Finn was thinking madly. This battle was not looking good, he probably should have requested that they move somewhere where the terrain might have been more favorable. The snowy field was making it as if Dixie was being hit with a water move every time she ran through the snow. Lyra's pokémon seemed plenty capable of long range attacks too. His only chance would be to avoid the snow and try and do that same.

"Dixie, keep your distance and ember. Try to avoid any razor leaves!"

Dixie's concentration tightened. Finn could tell that she wanted to prove herself as a strong member of the team. Spurts of fire crossed the gap between the two pokémon. Even in the snow where the grass type was weak, the bayleef was dodging. It was exceptionally agile for such a stocky pokémon.

Lyra looked just as frustrated as Finn was.

"Time to end this. Magical Leaf!" she called out.

Finn was not sure what that move would do, but it couldn't be good for Dixie. "Dixie! Concentrate! Get in close, we'll only have one shot! Ember before it has a chance!"

Dixie, who by this time was really beginning to show her enhanced speed from her ability, leaped into action. The little bird used the tracks it had made previously in the snow and sped towards Lyra's pokémon, wincing as more snow melted into her feathers. Cocking her head back, Dixie spat four large globules of flame into the air. As the fire was soaring towards it, the grass type concentrated and released another wave of razor leaves. This time, it looked like the leaves were coated in a purple energy. The leaves weaved around the flames of Dixie's ember attack and sliced into Dixie's torso. To her credit, Dixie's ember attack was on target, leaving Frond covered in severe burns, barely able to stand.

The grass types poor condition did not change how devastating the enhanced form of razor leaf was on Dixie. The torchic was not in any better shape.

Finn was beginning to worry about the amount of blood that was blotting into Dixie's orange plumage, when the incredible happened. A burst of white light shone from the small feathered pokémon. Over the next few seconds, Dixie's form reached almost four feet in height, her arms and legs thickened and elongated. The hard tendons that once covered just her talons, could now be seen rising above the snowy ground. Her lengthened arms looked muscled and capable of delivering a hard punch, tapering until reaching three sharp claws.

Finn looked on in disbelief. Pokémon evolved, and he had even seen the signs occurring on all of his team members barring larvitar, but he just did not expect it so soon. Of course, the starters that were given out by the Professors of each region were known to reach their second stage rather quickly. The species that the Professors decided to give away were chosen by design in order to make sure that the recipient could handle themselves in the wild more quickly than they might have done with a slower evolving species.

"Dixie, you're amazing! Let's end this battle—ember!" said Finn, voice cracking a bit in his excitement.

The newly minted combusken, still retaining its speed from throughout the battle, appeared as a blur. In seconds she was in front of the grass dinosaur, unleashing a huge amount of fire from her beak.

Lyra was able to see defeat, and recalled her pokémon before it took too much damage. "We forfeit the match," she said, downcast. "That was a good battle Finn. I almost had you there at the end. Congratulations on the evolution!"

Unable to stop the smile that formed on his face, he replied, "Thanks Lyra, great match. I think if Dixie hadn't evolved, you would have won."

"Lyra's pokémon were weak to both of yours and you still just barely won," said a drawling voice, coming closer. Ian Phipps appeared next to the two trainers. "A win is a win, but you have to admit, Lyra's pokémon are probably at a higher level than yours are right now."

"Ian! Be nice!" said Lyra in chastisement.

Shaking his head Finn replied, "Well he's right, you know. Both of my pokémon did have the type advantage over you. If we were at the same level, I shouldn't have needed Dixie to evolve in order to win. That doesn't stop me from being happy for beating the Cherrygrove champ. It makes all of the craziness I've endured so far on my journey feel worth it."

"Huh, sounds like you might actually have some sense in your head," said Ian.

Orion took that time to walk over to the group, high-fiving Finn. "Well done man, congrats on Dixie. That's the first of our pokémon to evolve!" Orion then introduced himself to the other two trainers.

Finn took that moment to release the fire type, pulling out a potion at the same time. Up close, he admired the glossy sheen to her slightly larger feathers. Instead of a mostly orange body that she had as a torchic, the majority of her upper torso was now covered in a canary yellow.

"You're beautiful Dixie, I'm so proud of you," said Finn, moving down to scratch the bird's crest. Amazingly, it appeared that the damage from the razor leaves had healed when she had evolved and that she would not need the potion. Dixie moved her head into his palm as he scratched around her crest feathers, letting out an excited chirp. "This means you won't be able to hide behind my legs anymore. You know that right?"

Dixie squawked with admonishment before jumping behind Finn in a failed attempt to hide herself.

Laughing Lyra asked, "Well, what other pokémon do you have? Dixie seems like a character."

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," replied Finn.

Ian rolled his eyes at the proclamation.

Together they pulled their pokéballs off of their belt. Finn called out Felix first and sprayed the potion over his fur, and gave him encouragement for a great battle. Lyra did something similar with her pidgeotto, Whisper, and Frond, her bayleef. Benedict was called out into a patch dirt where the snow had all melted. Finn felt a confused emotion in his head as the grass psychic type gazed around the battlefield, with no battle taking place. Lyra, in addition to the pokémon he had seen, released a mareep and the frog pokémon froakie that he had seen her win on television. The pokémon all began sniffing and making noises at one another.

Then, Lyra's Froakie took the opportunity to begin quickly hopping away into the forest.

"Wait Froakie! No!" shouted Lyra. "Frond, after him!"

A menagerie of pokémon, Lyra, Finn, and Orion all chased after the small water type into the forest. A frantic chase later, found the group staring on in horror as Froakie was being lifted into the air by a fearow, spearow's evolved form.

"Felix, icy wind!" shouted Finn.

Felix let out a swirling cloud of ice and snow at the much larger flying type, hitting it squarely in the chest. It screeched angrily and began to madly flap its wings in an attempt to gain altitude.

At that moment a purple flash shone to their left. Ian and his jynx had teleported to their side.

"Jynx, use ice beam. Get Froakie away from it," called Ian calmly.

A hyper concentrated blast of ice erupted from a coalescing sphere between Jynx's hands hitting the fearow square in the head, causing the large bird to plummet towards the ground. At the same time a purple glow appeared around Froakie, and gently pulled the writhing pokémon to safety.

"Jynx is so awesome, Ian," said Orion.

"We've been at this for quite a while. She has the versatility to match most threats, even off-route," he replied calmly as Jynx maneuvered the frog through the air over to its trainer.

"Thanks Ian, Finn. I really don't even know what to do with Froakie. He's been so hard to tame compared to my other pokémon. He was supposed to be my prize from the tournament, but he's been so rambunctious I can hardly get a word across."

"And we've been training out here for a week, Lyra. I told you already—pokémon bred from dark stock tend to need a more hands on approach to training. You're going to have to use physical discipline," said Ian.

"But I don't want Froakie to hate me," said Lyra, nervously.

"Dark types only respect power Lyra. That pokémon was bred from Karen's Elite team, you can't expect it to just immediately fall in line. My krookodile still has some faint scars from when he was a sandile, and he's one of my most loyal," said the older trainer.

Lyra nodded, but didn't respond, thinking hard.

Finn was soaking in this knowledge. He had already begun to train Larvitar with some physical discipline, but that was recent. Maybe what Ian was saying was something he could implement with Larvitar.

Orion was crouched down, petting Lyra's mareep. "Lyra, I was wondering whether you could tell me where you captured this mareep? That's why we were in the area in the first place. I need an electric type to deal with Falkner, and I heard there were some fields with wild mareep out here," said Orion.

Coming out of her thoughts Lyra smiled, "Oh, yeah. I caught Maddy here before beating Falkner as well. It's actually when I stumbled upon and began training with Ian too. The mareep tend to hang out in a clearing about thirty minutes that way," she said pointing to north.

Before the trainers parted ways Ian pulled Finn over to the side.

"Look man, it took some balls to challenge Lyra like you did, but I guess I see why you did it," said the older trainer.

"Oh—Well I mean, I just had to see where I was, you know?"

"I do. If you want one piece of advice. Your pokémon have solid attack strength. You should start focusing on mock battles with your team and get their accuracy and dodging ability up. Attack power goes a long way, but if you can't hit a target, you're still going to lose. Remember that first powder snow you used against Whisper? If that attack had hit dead-on, you might've won that match rather than ending in a draw."

"Um, thanks I guess. Good luck facing Clair again. I actually saw the last few minutes of that match from the stands. I thought you had her with that blizzard attack," said Finn.

"Let that be another example of what I'm telling you. Clair used the terrain to her advantage to dodge my attack. I won't let that weakness affect me again," said Ian. "Be safe out there kid."

* * *

Orion caught his mareep, and they made their way back to where Alan was camped, all in the same day.

They camped out that night before setting out to make it to Violet. The groups' pokédex began to ding with messages as they finally reached close enough to the city that it could get a good signal. Finn called Professor Elm, letting him know that Dixie had evolved, and that at least in preliminary testing, she had kept her speed increasing abilities. He also reported on the problems he had with Larvitar, and that the lizard pokémon's skin was hardening on schedule. Alan told the professor that he had discovered while training with his shinx that if his shroomish became paralyzed, in an an oxymoronic turn of fate, its ability seemed to greatly increase its speed.

Finn and Orion also called Clair, leaving a message saying that they would be challenging the Violet Gym within the next few days.

A mile away from Violet, they saw the outline of the city's gigantic walls.

* * *

**Finn:**  
Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
? – Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken

**Orion:**  
Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp  
Drake - Treecko  
? - Mareep

**Alan:**  
? - Phanpy  
? - Shroomish  
? - Shinx


	8. Violet

**Chapter 8: Violet**

As they kept walking, Violet's walls seemed to loom larger and larger in the distance, dwarfing the fortifications that protected their hometown of Blackthorn. The city's backdrop of blue forested mountains reached into the sky, interspersed with random tufts of clouds. To their left and right, fields of different crops stretched in all directions. They began seeing more trainers and merchant vehicles driving up and down the route heading for the city.

"It's so much larger than I imagined," said Finn, looking up what must have been one hundred feet of mortar and rock. At the top, he could see people and pokémon milling about the ramparts.

Finn felt lighter as he gazed upon the city. This was the second step. The first—being able to travel across the country without dying—had almost ended in catastrophe on more than one occasion, but the group had persevered and made it here.

Looking over at his companions, a sense of pride welled up. Each of them had started this journey for different reasons. Finn because of a childhood dream, and maybe a bit of rebellion against his step-father, Alan because of his love for pokémon and horrible parents, and Orion because of his stubborn desire to be the best dragon trainer he could, despite not being born into a centuries old clan of pokémon trainers. All could be seen as somewhat poor reasons for beginning a terribly dangerous profession, but so far Finn felt like the rewards had made it all worth it.

"Violet is one of the largest cities in Johto. It's home to more than three times the amount of people of Blackthorn," said Alan, indifferent to Finn's musings.

"Guys, my parents actually once took us for a vacation here to see Sprout Tower. We got to see some Gym matches too, but that was back when Falkner's dad Walker was the Gym Leader," said Orion.

"Really, how was that? Was Walker any good?" asked Finn.

"Well, he was known to be pretty easy to beat for the lower tiered Gym battles, but one of the hardest for the later ones. Which is, like, pretty different from his son, who seems to be fairly easy to defeat at all badge tiers," said Orion. "The battle was awesome though. We saw one of his skarmory beat a six-badge trainer all on its own. It was one of the first times I thought I wanted to start my own journey."

Alan was still gazing up at the wall. "It really makes you wonder what might have necessitated walls like this," said Alan, curiously. "Imagine the amount of pokémon it would take to bring something like this down."

Finn agreed. It would take a siege of epic proportions to topple that wall. It made Finn wonder if the walls were not just for protection from wild pokémon, but other groups of trainers as well. He cursed himself for not taking his history classes more seriously in school, but he had always focused on the things he thought were interesting, namely pokémon. Finn did remember some basic facts about the city-state system of Johto and their walls though.

"These walls are what allowed our civilization to really begin. They gave our ancestors safety and allowed them the ability to spend time on other things like farming and training pokémon to be more friendly, rather than simply surviving. We can thank walls like these for the start of our way of life," said Finn.

The crunching sounds of gravel from Finn's right let him know that Dixie was getting back from her run. He had taken to letting his combusken out so that she could get exercise with the group as they walked. Finn wanted her to get as used to her new form as soon as she could before the Gym match, even though he was not entirely sure which members of his team he would be using yet.

"Bros! So now that we're here, do you guys think you're ready for the Gym battle? I feel pretty confident with Darya and my new mareep, though I'll probably need a few more days to get him up to speed," asked Orion.

"Well, typing-wise, Dixie just gained a weakness to flying types and Benedict is also weak there, so I think I'll really need to have a good showing with Felix in order to win," said Finn, somewhat nervously. "The thing is, we've been on the road and training longer than most trainers before they challenge their first Gym leader. And I don't think the amount of danger we've been through is typical. So, theoretically we should have a bit of an edge, even with a type disadvantaged team."

"If I hadn't caught Shinx, I think I would be in big trouble, but he has already proven himself to be really strong against flyers," said Alan, looking down at the lion-cub pokémon slinking to and fro around his legs. "Isn't that right little guy?"

The electric type let out a mewl before racing forward about ten feet up the path and sprinting back. His large blue paws exaggerated in their up and down motions.

Without warning, a loud rumbling was heard from the route behind them. In a practiced motion, the three teens who were used to the route's heavy traffic moved to the side of the dirt path to allow for the vehicle to pass them by.

Barely getting out of the way in time, a beige truck sped up the route, spewing a trail of dust and gravel behind it, causing the three teens to throw their arms up over their eyes.

Wiping the dust from his face, Finn caught a glimpse of pink through the truck's back panel of glass. The truck bed was covered with a bulging plastic blue tarp, keeping its cargo from spilling out onto the road. As it passed, one of the truck's tires found a deep pothole in the route, which forced a green object to fling out from under the tarp and onto the gravely ground in front of them.

The object hit the ground with a splatting sound, similarly to if someone threw an overripe oran berry against a wall. Seconds passed, and the truck was gone. Curiously, Finn walked over and immediately wished he had not. Recoiling, he yelled, "Fuck!" His face morphing into a look of disgust.

Dixie had a similar reaction, letting out a loud squawk before running into the field of wheat behind the group, ducking to conceal herself.

Alan had taken on an interesting shade of puce. "Ugh, what should we do with it? What do people even need a truckload of dead bug pokémon for? I don't think they're edible? Let alone that many?" asked Alan.

Orion walked up and crouched down to examine the elongated pupa pokémon that lay in the center of the road. A ten inch long incision ran up the lime-green segmented body, letting blood and viscera flow onto the dirt. Finn could even make out the beginnings of what might have eventually become a butterfree's wings glittering in the afternoon light.

"Shinx! Back off!" Alan swatted the inquisitive electric type that was trying to sniff at the dead pokémon. Clearly, his wild side had not yet gone away after training with the group for the past few weeks.

This was not the first time that Finn had seen death while traveling. The group often set traps for rattata and bidoof to eat on the more remote routes, while fishing up magikarp and krabby when they were near water. The difference here was the callous disregard for the pokémon's life.

Finn and his friends had trapped and killed wild pokémon to survive, going so far as to keep useful parts of their prey to sell at the market. Bidoof and rattata pelts were used in all sorts of clothing.

With one glance, Finn could tell that this metapod had been dissected and mutilated.

"Guys, remember the notice on the board in Cherrygrove talking about the dead bug pokémon? This must have been happening all up and down the routes," said Orion, covering his mouth with his arm. The smell coming from the carcass was nauseating.

"Oh yeah! What sickos would do this though? Was that entire truck full of dead pokémon?" asked Finn.

Something was tugging at Finn's memory, but he could not decide what it was.

"We need to get to the wall, and let the guards know what we saw," said Alan.

"This could be really bad," said Orion, glancing up at the other two teens. "The pokémon in the forest might choose to attack Violet over this. If that truck was full, then there were probably hundreds of metapod or other bugs in there. The city needs to be on alert."

"Well, if this has been going on since before we even made it to Cherrygrove, and nothing bad has happened… maybe it won't?" said Alan hopefully, though the set of his eyes made it seem like he did not really believe it.

* * *

With a grim expression, the guard who had introduced himself as Hudson explained it to them. "Look boys, we have had reports like this for the past month or so. Some of the more experienced trainers that go off-route have been reporting that the metapod and kakuna that pupate over the winter are beginning to sense nearby intruders and evolve early, attacking any who come near."

"This just makes no sense," said Finn. "I can't think of any reason that someone would execute a plan like this solely to kill bug pokémon? What use could they have? There were even reports of this back before we left Cherrygrove."

"You're right about that. There might be some use I haven't heard of, but as of now we need to act with caution. With this report, the city may wind up being placed on Orange Alert," said the guard, his bristled mustache twitching. "The paperwork is going to be a nightmare."

"Um, but what does that mean though?" asked Orion.

"Orange is the second highest alert level for the city, meaning that only three badge and above trainers can leave the city's walls except in extreme or extenuating circumstances," said the guard. "Only Red Alert, what we call a Code Red, is higher, and that only happens when there is an impending attack by rouge pokémon. That's generally when the League enlists the help of any physically able League trainer."

"What?" Finn blurted out. "How have I never heard of this color system before? We're from Blackthorn."

"Oh, that makes sense. Blackthorn doesn't use the same system. It's up to the Gym leader how they deal with external threats, and Blackthorn rarely has any. The dragon trainers and Rangers there are exceptional at keeping the local pokémon at bay. They're always on about some sort of ecological balance mumbo-jumbo or something. Here in Violet, this would be our second time reaching Orange Alert in the past five years. Last time, this huge swarm of hundreds of graveler, geodude, and onix came out from Dark Cave and attacked. They nearly took down the eastern wall with their ground attacks." At this, the guard's voice trailed off, getting lost in his own thoughts.

Finn set his jaw and and asked, "But how does anyone fight anything like that? And Falkner can't have been too effective against rock types, how did you get the pokémon to retreat?"

"Reinforcements came, and we were fine. Hundreds of trainers made it outside the wall to fight the horde. The League can teleport in specialized trainers for the right jobs. The only problem is that it takes time to organize things like that—time that some defenders didn't have—I lost my slowbro Murphy that day."

* * *

The Pokémon Center in Violet was massive, easily twice as big as the one in Cherrygrove. The furnishings seemed sleeker and more modern as well with the walls being a clean white. All of the countertops gleamed with lacquer, and the cabinets were polished hardwood with stainless steel fixtures.

Upon entering, and having their pokémon looked at Nurse Joy flashed them a smile and said, "Good afternoon, you gentleman look like you could use a room?"

Noticing how grimy the group looked, Finn nodded, "Yes, the plan is to challenge the Gym leader and try to be out of here before the end of the week."

The bubbly nurse frowned. "You just might want to re-think those plans. The Gym has so many challengers right now that they are backed up for a full week. The good news is, if you go ahead and issue a challenge now and bring back a receipt that shows the date when you are going to battle with Falkner, you will receive a coupon to stay here at the Pokémon Center while you wait for the date of your challenge," she said.

It was Finn's turn to frown. He wanted to get a move on. The entire journey thus far had felt like he was in a race against the clock to catch up to the other rookies on the Gym circuit. He wouldn't be surprised if Silver hadn't already earned his third badge, passing through multiple cities in the time it had taken Finn's group to reach Violet. Then again, Lyra seemed to be taking it slow. That said, he had thought that most of the trainers who made it to Cherrygrove in time for the tournament would be weeks ahead of the trio. If Falkner was this backed up, he might have been wrong. Maybe there were a lot of rookies still struggling to get their first badge?

He remembered what the guard had said. Trainers under three badges may soon be prevented from exiting the city. The idea of being stuck in a city that on high alert sounded terrible. Hopefully, they could get their challenge in and then be on their way.

"Guys go ahead and get cleaned up, I am going to hop over to the Gym so I can get my challenge paperwork all filled out."

Finn waited for Nurse Joy to return his pokémon from their check-up and ventured out into the city. People were everywhere. There were businessmen and women in suits, tourists with cameras around their necks craning to see all that the city had to offer, and Finn even noticed some monks in robes of saffron yellow and black. Buildings taller than any he had ever seen jutted up from either side of the street like sheer cliffs. Many of the glimmering glass covered buildings had balconies with perches built into their railings for bird pokémon. Every so often he would see a pokémon swoop between buildings to deliver a package or message.

He continued maneuvering his way through the crowded streets following the city map he had gleaned from a brochure booth at the Pokémon Center.

The Gym was a bit off to the side of the main streets that comprised the center of the city. A park about one hundred yards in length encircled the domed building. In-between the park and the Gym lay a busy street filled with cars. Most large cities kept plenty of room between their Gyms and the larger surrounding buildings to prevent any seismic activity or strong attacks from negatively impacting the city's residents.

As he walked through the automatic glass doors, he spotted a rather haggard looking thirty-something year old woman who was seated at the receptionist desk. Small wire framed glasses could not conceal the dark circles underneath her eyes. Upon seeing Finn, she set her face into an unconvincing smile and she said, "Good afternoon, welcome to Violet Gym, how may I assist you."

"Um, well, I'm Finn Abernathy and I'm here to register for a first tier Gym battle with Falkner," he said.

"Of course you are," she said, her expression remaining deadpan as she handed over a clipboard with some affixed paperwork. "Please fill these out and return them to me for processing. Be warned that we are very backed up right now. Your challenge might even be as far as a week away." 

* * *

The week flew by. Up until the day before the battle, all Finn did was train with his team. Not wanting to offend either of his friends, he had taken to training with Orion in the morning outside the city's walls along the Route 31, while spending his afternoons battling at the city's trainer fields with Alan. His team benefited greatly from the extensive training, and he was able to earn a bit of money for supplies. That money was further supplemented by the rattata and bidoof pelts he had been able to sell to a vendor.

Felix mastered protect, and was quickly improving on his newly learned icy wind technique. Benedict's confusion attack was gaining in potency, and the exeggcute worked extensively on his aim with leech seed. Dixie's increase in power after evolution was nothing short of miraculous. The sheer strength behind her ember and her newfound double kick attacks put his whole team to shame, barring possibly Felix's icy wind as far as outright power went. This just made Finn all the more eager for the rest of his team to reach their next stages of evolution.

He tried to take Ian's advice to heart. Instead of constantly attempting to get his team's moves to the next tier of proficiency, he worked on accuracy and evasion. Out on the routes, Finn would tie a rope up into the tallest boughs of an oak tree, and then affix a large stone to the bottom. Finn took to violently swinging the rock back and forth, while having his team attempt to hit the object with their attacks.

Felix's accuracy was the best of the group, the little swine pokémon squealing in delight every time one of his mud bombs or icy winds struck the target. Benedict certainly found the moving target more difficult to grasp with the psychic energy of his confusion attack, but after each training session Finn could feel the contented emotions coming from he psychic type. Dixie's aim was worse than the other two, but the combusken's embers had gotten so much larger that she still managed to hit the target most of the time.

Larvitar was a constant pain in his ass. While training him, Finn would keep Dixie out of her ball as a threatening presence. Her double kicks could knock Larvitar out in one go at full power. The constant intimidating presence of the fire-fighting type pokémon eventually had an effect on Larvitar. So long as Dixie was outside of her pokéball, he would follow Finn's commands. The rock type was obedient only when he knew that the source of his torment was close by, but would snarl at Finn when Dixie was not present. Progress was progress, but Finn wanted Larvitar to respect him, not just fear his fellow teammates.

Furthermore, Larvitar's skin had almost fully hardened. While the little lizard seemed to move a bit slower than previously, it was much less than he had anticipated.

This prompted Finn to give Mr. Pokémon a call to update him on his pokémon's development. The researcher was suitably impressed, and asked for him to perform some basic field tests on speed and skin hardness to send back to him, which sadly took up a good chunk of his training time for that day.

As it turned out, Finn's battle was scheduled for a full day before both Alan and Orion's. Their rush to get settled at the Pokémon Center had ended up costing them, and set the group back an entire day. This did not really bother Finn too much, but as the first one up, he did feel a little more pressure to win.

Falkner's rules were two-on-two battles for zero badge trainers. The challenger was allowed one switch in. The flying type master kept a large flock of early stage flying types for this purpose. Over the course of the week, Finn had attended a few zero badge battles, and found that he could be facing anything from a spearow to a murkrow.

He came away from watching these battles somewhat taken aback by how little strategy Falkner seemed to put into his zero badge tier matches. It was mostly one pokémon using an attack, with a response from one of Falkner's with very little thought involved. He knew that the Gym Leader had to have some kind of trickery up his sleeve, but he was holding back.

Now that Finn thought about it, the more popular television channels that showed Gym matches normally only showed higher tier battles.

He turned to Alan, who had joined him on this occasion to watch the matches. "Man, are you noticing what I am?"

"Yes, he's not really putting much effort into this," replied Alan, as he observed the Gym leader take down a young trainer using a rattata. "It's really pretty underwhelming."

The group as a whole had been battling at a higher level than this since even before they made it to New Bark.

"That pidgeotto he's using looks strong enough to where it should be able to use double team to evade attacks, but he's just letting it tank those hits," said Finn, watching as the rattata sunk its fangs into the pidgeotto's right wing, and flung it to the side with a jerk of its head.

"I think we should look at it like this. Gym leaders are gate keepers. At different tiers, you should expect different levels of difficulty. I'm assuming that what we are seeing here is Falkner using only simple strategies to win, and thus, letting trainers he feels have passed a certain level of training pass on to the next gym challenge."

"Yeah, maybe it's that. Or maybe it's just the hundreds of challengers he has taken on this week, and he's tired," replied Finn.

Growing up in Blackthorn, the only Gym battles they had been able to go and see in person were Clair's, and she did not take any challengers that had less than seven badges. Maybe Finn's view of Gym battles was skewed by that, and by what the more popular television channels showed him.

This was confirmed as a five badge trainer took to the arena. This time, Falkner used a corvinknight to great effect both defensively and offensively, his pokémon demonstrating great ability to dodge and tank hits, while also attacking with efficiency and skill. The level of ability of the pokémon used in this fight was a polar opposite to what the two teens had witnessed before.

Finn watched this battle with interest as corviknight was one of the species that Finn was considering capturing to finish rounding out his team. They were steel-flying pokémon very similar to skarmory except that they were intensely loyal and not nearly as mulish. Finn would be lying if he did not admit to himself that flying across the country on the back of a giant steel bird did not hold its own sort of appeal as well.

For now, the only problem was that the species was native to the Galar region, and Finn had no idea how he would go about obtaining one. Perhaps after his battle Falkner would deign to tell him how he had come across the pokémon.

* * *

The end of the week came faster than he expected, and Finn found himself nervously approaching a raised pillar inside the Violet Gym where opposing trainers stood during their battles. Butterfrees were flapping in his stomach and, while there were only a few dozen people in the arena watching today, it was still many more than what Finn was accustomed to.

The arena's ceiling opened up onto an overcast sky, letting in a misty drizzle that was occasionally gusting into the arena. Finn's clothes felt damp, and he kept having to wipe water off his face.

"This will be a two-on-two battle, Challenger. You will be allowed one switch in. Best of luck," said the terse Falkner. It was clear that he was either pissed off or just extremely tired. Strain showed on his face, and he looked to have been running off of a less than adequate amount of sleep.

The mist and light rain streaming through the open dome of the gym really limited Finn's options. The dome was only ever really kept shut in truly dangerous weather, and on those occasions the gym shut down as well.

He was originally going to use Dixie and Felix. Since Dixie's evolution, her fire attacks were strong enough to overcome the weakness granted by her fighting sub-typing. The weather changed this completely. A soaking wet Dixie would be of little use to him.

With a casual throw, Benedict materialized onto the damp dirt beneath him, the exeggcute letting out a high-pitched hum.

At the same time, a larger than average sized pidgey appeared in the air across the stadium. Most of the pidgey that he and his group caught for food were only around one foot in height. This one was abnormal in that it was almost twice that size.

"Use confusion, slam it into the ground. Then, use hypnosis!" called Finn.

"Gust," said Falkner, almost lazily.

In the back of Finn's mind he could feel his pokémon's determination and excitement for battle. It was an odd sensation, having another being's presence in your head, but not uncomfortable.

The battle started in earnest. A corona of purple fiery light surrounded Benedict's heads, and each of the pokémon's eyes were narrowed in concentration.

At the same time, the pidgey swooped upwards lifting itself further into the air and began to rapidly flap its wings in preparation for a gust attack.

One of the best things about psychic-type moves, was that they were fast. Almost instantly after Benedict began glowing, an aura of purple engulfed the opposing avian pokémon, and slammed it against the ground with a thud. As the pidgey tried to regain its bearings, Benedict hit it with a wave of hypnosis.

Finn was impressed with Benedict's increased capability with confusion. It must have come after this week's precision drills. Surprisingly, it felt like training for accuracy had somehow had the additional effect of increasing the psychic power of Benedict's attack. Thinking of the possibilities, potential training scenarios flashed through Finn's head. Shaking his head at letting himself get distracted, he refocused on the battle.

He called out for Benedict to use another confusion attack. The pidgey was already moving more sluggishly after the hypnosis, and while not asleep, the pokémon was not reacting as quickly as it had done moments before.

Still shaking its head around, the pidgey looked like it was frustrated with its own body for not cooperating with its mind. In that moment, another glow of purple surrounded the creature.

"Pidgey, knock it off. Use wing attack!" called Falkner.

When Benedict lifted the pidgey off the ground for the second time, the bird-type let out a screeching call, disrupting Benedict's concentration. Faster than Finn thought possible, the bird shot across the field and battered Benedict's body with its wings.

Feeling some slight panic at seeing Benedict getting pummeled like that he called out, "Confusion! FOCUS!"

After seeing all of the basic battles earlier in the week, Finn felt confident that if Benedict could just take out one of his opponents then Felix could handle the second one.

After the pidgey's attack, the light pink nutty egg-like structures that made up Benedict's body were scattered five to ten feet apart. Small rusty-green bruised circles were forming on different parts of his body. Benedict began letting out a humming sound as the grass-type reformed himself, his component pieces dragging across the dirt floor and forming back together as a group.

"You've got this Benedict, one last confusion!"

Finn felt an affirmation in his mind before a somewhat weaker purple glow appeared around the opposing pidgey. It was plenty strong enough to get the job done. With a hyper-concentrated blast of psychic energy, Benedict's confusion attack rocketed Falkner's pokémon into wall on the opposite side of the arena.

At that, Falkner recalled his pokémon, leaving Finn amazed. He hadn't realized that Benedict could pack such a punch. Looking down at the grass-type, he noticed that two of his heads had their eyes closed. Using such a powerful attack must have really worn him out.

"Benedict, return! Let's finish this off Felix!" called Finn, releasing his swinub onto the field below.

"Staravia, you're up!" said Falkner, the timbre of his voice still held a bored quality to it, like he really did not care what happened in this battle.

Looking out at Falkner, Finn was starting to get pissed off. This was a huge battle for him, but Falkner was treating it like a formality. Who was he to treat any challenger like their efforts did not matter? This was the older man's job. If he didn't want to follow through with his obligations as a Gym leader, he should abdicate to someone that would.

"Felix, icy wind!" Finn said, some anger leaking into his voice.

"Quick attack," said Falkner.

Once the normal-flying pokémon began its move, Felix went to work. Having dealt with this same maneuver with Lyra's pidgeotto, Felix changed tactics from my command on his own accord. Felix created a slide of slushy ice with his ice tackle attack and, just like before, he began a smooth spin until he faced where a stunned staravia was looking around in confusion.

Rearing up, he let loose a torrent of sharp ice at the surprised pokémon, dead center into its face and torso.

"Staravia is unable to battle. The win goes to the challenger," said a referee, standing adjacent to the battle field.

"Yes! A critical hit!" exclaimed Finn, pumping his fist into the air.

Across the arena, Falkner recalled his pokémon with a dismissive gesture and walked away from the podium on his side of the arena and into and adjoining room.

What the hell? When you won your first gym battle, were you not supposed to get a handshake and a badge from the leader?

Finn recalled Felix into his ball and then released the ice and ground type next to him.

"Great job Felix, nice move," he said, scratching Felix's ears in his favorite spot. Despite his frustration with the Gym leader, Felix and Benedict still executed exactly how they were trained, and they deserved his praise and some treats. He would go get Benedict treated at the Pokémon Center first.

* * *

Orion and Alan met Finn at the reception area at the front of the Gym, where in anticlimactic fashion, Finn received his badge and a sizable amount of prize money from the front desk. His trainer ID now bore a small stamp in the shape of two wings in flight.

"Way to go bro! You made it look too easy!" said Orion, his exuberant nature causing Finn's mouth to quirk upwards in a half smile.

"Thanks man, but it actually was easy. It felt like Falkner wasn't even trying," said Finn.

Alan came over and gave Finn a half-handshake half-hug, congratulating him.

"I agree. He seemed even more distracted than earlier this week. Felix sure blasted that staravia good though!" said Alan.

"That was a good hit, wasn't it?" said Finn, thinking back to Felix's masterful icy wind attack. "Well if Falkner keeps this up, you guys should have no problems tomorrow. Do you want to go have a late lunch to celebrate?"

"Let's wait until tomorrow, I have some more training I'd like to do. I think Drake is pretty close to evolution, and I want to see if I can make that happen today with an intense training session. Also, Tufts is really starting to improve. I'll probably even get to use him tomorrow. What about you Alan?" said Orion. It appeared that the other teen had named his new mareep Tufts. Finn didn't even bother asking.

"That's fair, I think Shinx is pretty close to evolution too. He's been getting bigger this week and seems more aggressive. I think I might hit up the trainer fields one last time," said Alan.

Watching the two go, Finn felt a bid dejected, but decided he would not dwell on it. He would probably do the same thing in their position. Even so, Finn had just won his first Gym badge! That was a big deal and he had no one to share it with.

Finn then realized he was wrong; he had his team. With that thought, he decided he would go spend the rest of the afternoon with his pokémon doing some light training accompanied by a copious amount of treats to celebrate their achievement.

A vibration from Finn's left pocket got his attention. The group's pokédex was letting him know that there was an incoming call. Quickly pulling out the device, he saw "Clair" popped up on the screen.

He stopped for a moment in surprise. Now, he knew that the older Gym leader had said she was going to monitor his and Orion's progress, but to call so soon after the battle? Personally?

With a nervous finger he accepted the call. "Good afternoon, this is Finn," he said.

"Finn, pleased to hear from you again. This is Clair," a regal voice came from the pokédex.

"Good to hear from you Leader Clair. I hope you are doing well," said Finn, questioningly.

"I am, thank you," she replied. "I just wanted to call and congratulate you on your victory. Felix looked well conditioned, and your exeggcute performed admirably as well."

"Thank you ma'am. I'm proud of them, if a bit underwhelmed by the first tier gym battle experience."

"Yes, well, Falkner did seem a bit off of his game, but from what I have heard, he has had a trying past few weeks. There is a reason I do not bother with low level gym challenges Finn. They are only meant to test a minimum level of competency. If I am honest, based on what I saw today, I believe that you could likely take on a gym at the third badge tier and come away with a victory. Sometimes, taking a longer path does lead to success," she said.

At the complement, Finn felt a surge of pride. "Thank you very much. It means a lot to hear that from you," said Finn. After a moment of thought, he paused before continuing, "I have been having a bit of an issue with my training that I would like some help with if you have a moment," said Finn, glancing around the reception area and walking over to a less populated corner. "I'd like to ask if you could keep this between us if you wouldn't mind?"

Finn thought that maybe Clair would be a great person to ask for advice about Larvitar. She trained dragons, and they were notorious for being difficult monsters to train. It was not often, but even experienced Gym trainers were turned on and killed by their dragon-type pokémon. Clair had to be a strict disciplinarian to keep this from happening.

"Certainly. I hope that you do not take me for a gossip, Finn?" Clair said, mild amusement ringing clearly in her melodic voice.

Flustered, Finn responded, "Of course not, I trust you! I just don't really want many people to know about this yet. Well—what happened was—I found a larvitar egg. It's since hatched, and I have been having a lot of trouble taming him."

Clair's silence lingered before she began speaking again. "That is simply remarkable, Finn. Are you aware of how rare an event this is?"

"Well, Professor Elm, and a Ranger out on the routes kind of let me in on it. They told me it would be best to keep it secret until I'm much stronger."

"Sage advice. There are many people who would do you harm to get their hands on such a creature," said Clair. "Do not be too troubled by your recent failures. The larvitar line is known to be vicious and immovable. Now tell me, what methods have you used in trying to tame the beast?"

"Well at first I was trying to reward good behavior with his favorite foods, mostly hard stones. That worked marginally well for a while, but since he burrows for his own food most of the time now, that tactic has mostly lost its effect. After that, I was trying to be a bit more forceful. I've had my combusken, Dixie, battle with the little guy every time he acts up. She can put him down with one kick. This has also worked somewhat, but now he'll only listen to me when Dixie is out of her pokéball. I need him to respect me, not just my team," said Finn sighing, desperate for answers.

"One of your pokémon evolved? Wonderful—good decision not using her in the battle today with all of that rain. What you have attempted is a good start. Those are taming strategies that work most often with temperamental pokémon. In cases like yours, where you are dealing with a pokémon with a dark type's disposition, there are a couple of training aids that could help you. The first might be somewhat out of your price range, but I may be able to help with that. For this you would need to commission a collar to be fitted for your larvitar. At your command the collar could deliver a painful shock or psionic blast to the pokémon. Nothing overtly harmful, trust me. This way you would be the one doling out the punishment, and you would be able to gain the pokémon's respect that way. Another way would be the engineer a scenario where you gain its trust somehow. Maybe you protect it from certain injury or death, or some other trying situation. This is difficult to do because creating such a scenario would have to be exceedingly believable to have a lasting impact on the pokémon's psyche."

"Wow, that's a lot to take in. Thank you," said Finn. "How much are we talking for a collar like that? I'm not quite sure I could afford something customizable."

"The collar I had commissioned for a gible that I recently obtained from a Sinnoan breeder cost approximately thirteen thousand dollars," said Clair. "That said, I could potentially help you out with that. I will just need to discuss it with some colleagues of mine and get back to you. Was there anything else Finn? While this conversation has been much more interesting than I expected, I do have some other appointments, and just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed watching your battle," the Gym leader said.

"No, that's it for now. I appreciate your help ma'am. Just in case you weren't aware, Orion's battle is tomorrow," said Finn.

"Oh, I'm well aware. Have a nice afternoon Finn, I will get back to you about that collar," said Clair, before the call ended.

* * *

The next morning, Finn was seated in the stands surrounding the Gym arena waiting for Alan and Orion's Gym battles. He felt a bit antsy not having a member of his team out with him, but he made due by people watching. He and his team had enjoyed the previous afternoon just goofing around together, celebrating their big win. Even Larvitar had not seemed as grumpy as he normally was.

Hundreds of onlookers were in the crowd, since the threat of rain from the day prior had cleared, leaving a blue sky shining through the opening in the arena's roof. Finn would have almost preferred having worse weather than dealing with all of these people packed side by side in the stands. The air was still humid from the previous day's rains, and that, combined with the much hotter afternoon left Finn feeling a bit claustrophobic. 

Alan took on Falkner first, and won his match in an exhilarating crowd pleaser. Phanpy and Falkner's zubat knocked each other out at the same time in the first round. In the second, Shinx evolved in order to defeat Falkner's fletchling, causing the onlooking fans to roar in approval. The much larger electric type lion pokémon then made short work of the crimson winged fire oriented flying type. Whenever a challengers' pokémon evolved and helped secure a Gym victory, the onlookers always went wild.

Alan left the arena to get his rewards. The other teen had mentioned that he would find Finn in the stands after his battle to watch Orion's match.

Thinking that nothing could top Shinx's evolution, Finn sat patiently waiting for the intermission to end and for Orion's battle to begin.

As he sat there glancing around at the abundant mix of people in the crowd, he began to hear something. A slight buzzing sound was coming from somewhere. The speakers hanging above his head were not producing any sound. Finn stood up, trying and see what was causing the strange noise.

That was when it happened. A blaring siren sounded from within the arena. A horizontally positioned red light began swirling in its glass casing. The light doused the crowd in a flashing waves of red. Then, a robotic voice then called out over the intercom system. "A Code Red has been activated for all citizens of Violet city. Any League trainers able to help with the city's protections please make your way to the front gates. All other persons, calmly find the nearest Safety Shelter." From up above, a groaning sound could be heard as the retractable roof began to close itself.

All around Finn, the spectators erupted in panic.

* * *

 **Finn:**  
Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
? – Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken

 **Orion:**  
Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp  
Drake - Treecko  
Tufts - Mareep

 **Alan:**  
? - Phanpy  
? - Shroomish  
? - Luxio


	9. A Violet Nightmare

**Chapter 9: A Violet Nightmare**

Chaos reigned. Out of nowhere, Finn took a blow to his shoulder and was shoved violently forward onto the concrete floor of the stands.

"Hey!" Finn shouted angrily from the ground, calling after a pudgy middle-aged man charging towards the exit at the top the aisle.

Nobody seemed to notice Finn, them being too preoccupied with the mad rush for the exits. Getting jostled back and forth, he eventually regained his footing. His eyes darted around the arena. People in varying states of distress were handling the Code Red in their own way. One woman was sprinting up the steps with a wailing toddler tossed over her shoulder.

For the city's residents to react this strongly to the alarm, there had to be some serious residual mental trauma from the last time this had happened.

Finn's first thought was that the alert must have been prompted by the bug pokémon deciding to come and take their revenge against the city for the wonton killing of their species over the past few weeks. His imagination conjured up images of deadly sparkling powders falling from glimmering wings, and foot long poison filled stingers jabbing at him from the sky.

Even with his mind reeling with the thoughts of the dangers that awaited outside the city's walls, Finn realized that he had an obligation to get there.

Upon signing on with the League, he had agreed to come to the defense of any city he resided in that was within League jurisdiction. Violet certainly qualified. If he failed to show while being registered as a League trainer within the city's walls, he would either have to have a fantastic excuse, or face punishment.

He wasn't entirely sure that trainers with one badge would be much help against a massive swarm. Even so, he didn't think that the League would put him in a situation that would be too dangerous.

Taking care not to get pushed back into the ground, Finn made his way up the staircase, and then to the entrance of the Gym. As he passed through, he saw people attempting to jam their way through a set of double doors near the Gym's entrance. That must have been where one of the Safety Shelters that the announcement spoke of were located.

Finn craned his neck, trying to see if he could spot Orion or Alan. The mass of bodies, all moving at a frantic pace rendered this impossible. Only having one pokédex was really limiting his decision making, since Orion currently had the device for his upcoming match. He decided that he could regroup with the others when they reached the wall, since they should also know that they had the same duty that he did.

That in mind, Finn started off at a fast jog towards the main entrance to the city, weaving his way through the panicked population.

* * *

The front gates were a hive of energy. Rangers, guards, and a myriad of trainers were trying their best to get organized. A constant stream of farmers and tradesman were flowing into the city, all moving with the same sense of urgency as the rest. One Ranger with an overwhelmed look gracing his features was directing a line of people into groups.

Over the din of noise coming from the crowd, Finn could still hear that slight humming sound he had first noticed while at the Gym. The sound put his senses on edge. Turning his gaze upwards, he saw the men on the ramparts preparing long metal cylindrical contraptions. Every thirty feet or so a guard had one of the tubular objects.

A voiced echoed down from the ramparts, gruff and loud. "Repels at the ready! Annnnnd fire!"

The men with the objects, hoisted them up over their shoulders and pointed them away from the city. Then, the ends exploded in a cacophony of sound, followed by a trail of smoke shooting out into the sky. Ten or so seconds later, a smattering of firecracker-like sounds could be heard far beyond the wall.

Finn realized that the devices were firing repels out at the oncoming pokémon. He quelled a swirl of anxiousness that flared up in his gut. Just how close were the incoming pokémon if they were already using repels?

"Trainer!" shouted a tall, well-muscled man in a Ranger's uniform, beckoning him forward. Finn had made it to the front of the line of people. The Ranger was bedecked in a tan jacked adorned with multi-colored patches denoting his rank within the corps, and cargo shorts. A full six pokéballs hung from his belt.

"Yes sir, I'm here to help. What's going on?" Finn let out in a rush.

The older man held up a data pad and began scrolling. "I'm Ranger Forrest Rians, what's your name and number of badges, son?" The Ranger had a twangy accent that was hard to place.

"Finn Abernathy, I earned my first badge just yesterday sir."

The Ranger noted Finn's name down on the data pad. "Oof, brave of you to come out then. Here's the situation; we've got a huge ole' swarm of beedrill, butterfree, and other bugs making their way to the city from the south," he said, pointing at the wall directly behind him. "We've got to hold the wall until reinforcements arrive." He let out a breath, and continued. "That commotion earlier was a set of aerial repel bombs, that'll hopefully keep em' at bay for a little while as the repel lingers in the air, but you never know with monsters that can fly. We're hoping it'll give the city folk time to get to the Safety Shelters, and us some more time to get prepared. Falkner, and his Gym trainers should be here any minute to give us support from above as well."

Finn processed the Ranger's words. It sounded like reinforcements were expected to arrive. That meant that the city did not think its own defenses would be enough to protect everyone. And it was brave of Finn to come? He hadn't thought he had a choice in the matter. The League certainly had not made it seem like that when he signed up, with all of the forms full of dense legal jargon.

Before he had a chance to question further, Ranger Rians put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Listen, go join up with that group over there. An ACE is in charge and will get you set up with all of your objectives."

Finn nodded once, and strode over to the group of trainers. Head on a swivel, he took in the mass of people congregated at the wall, hoping to catch a glimpse of Orion's stalky frame or Alan's wispy blonde hair to no avail. This was a time where he really could have used a friend to have his back.

There were groups of five or six trainers forming up intermittently in clusters, with each having someone dressed in either a Ranger uniform or ACE outfit doling out instructions. It appeared to Finn that the city's defensive force consisted of a mishmash of all the League trainers currently in the city, a smattering of ACE trainers, and the guards and Rangers currently in the city.

They were just trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

As he approached, he noticed that there was a familiar face amongst the small gathering of people. Her tell-tale sky-blue hair gave Lyra away. When she spotted him coming over, the troubled look on her face gave way to a small smile, and she gestured in a half-wave. Finn couldn't help but give the pretty girl an admiring once over, quickly averting his eyes and returning her wave back, somewhat awkwardly.

The leader of his group was easy to pick out. He wore the typical ACE trainer garb consisting of navy slacks, shoes, and gloves with a rust red jacket. Finn observed that in addition to the usual pokéballs trainers wore on their belts, this ACE had an ultraball, denoting that he had spent a good amount of money to capture whatever creature resided in the ball. His hawkish features and confident bearing also set him apart from the others, who all looked to be in various states of unease.

"We're part of the backup team. We will hold out close to relative safety at the base of the wall in case some of the insurgent pokémon make it past the Gym trainers up on the front lines." When he saw Finn coming over, he stopped. "Alright, looks like we have our last team member. C'mon over here, we don't have a lot of time."

Finn nodded so sharply in respect, that it was almost a bow. ACE was a designation given to elite League trainers that held six badges at the very least. It was said that ACE training was brutal, teaching leadership and group tactics in conjunction with battle strategy. Simply getting accepted to ACE bootcamp was said to be a challenge.

"I'm ACE Stephen Poole, and I'll be in charge of our group. Right now, the guards have held a large swarm of bug pokémon at bay via repels. This won't last much longer as the repels will lose their effectiveness over time once the pokémon realize they can fly over the cloud of gas. When that happens, we're going to be in for it. Who here has pokémon strong against flying, bug, or poison types?"

Finn raised his hand. "I have a fire type and an ice type that can fight."

Stephen tipped his head in approval. "That's good, anyone else?"

A girl a year or so older than Finn raised her hand as well. She had a caramel complexion and held herself in a stiff posture, belying her nerves. "I have a growlithe, and a graveler that can take on bugs pretty well," she said. "I'm Tori by the way—I have four badges."

That started a cascade of introductions.

"I'm Lyra, I have one badge, and have a pidgeotto and a mareep."

"Sonya Jenkins, one badge. I have a spearow that will help." The girl's face was dusted by freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her brown hair was pulled into pig-tails.

Then, the last member took a step forward. He had a snooty upturned nose. There was not one crease in his starched button-down shirt, nor a hair on his head was out of place.

"My name is Charles Plumbley, and I am currently in possession of four badges. I, myself have caught many monsters capable of taking on this ghastly swarm. Alas, I only have two on my person of which may be rightly suited to this endeavor. My raboot and drednaw should pose a sufficiently strong force to aid in our defense," he said, each word articulated with perfect diction.

Never having actually met someone from Galar before, Finn was taken aback by his accent and attitude.

"What's a raboot and a drednaw?" asked Sonya. She must have been at least fifteen years old since she was a trainer, but she spoke with a childish inflection that made her seem younger.

"Of course! I had forgotten that Johtan schooling does not go over the comprehensive encyclopedia of pokémon species. They are a fire and water-rock type pokémon, respectively. If you like, I will show you them later," said Charles, not unkindly, but with a smidgen of condescension.

Finn was taking note of the composition of their group. Three trainers that only had one badge, two four badge trainers, and the ACE. To Finn, that meant that Charles and Tori were probably trying to hit the fifth badge milestone at one of the easier Gyms in Johto, and the rest were remnants of the first wave of rookies through Violet.

"And I'm Finn by the way. I just realized I never introduced myself," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I only just got my first badge yesterday, and I've never been a part of anything like this before."

In an attempt to be the voice of reason, Stephen interjected, "For those of you new to this, do not be overly worried. There are many experienced trainers here to help." His pokédex beeped, prompting the older trainer to answer the device and turn away from their group.

"Yeah, we might not even see any action," said Tori, her words coming out as if shew as trying to convince herself as well as the rest of them. She patted Sonya on the shoulder. "If we do though, stick with me and I'll help out if I can."

Hanging up his pokédex, Stephen looked up. "Alright! Now that we all know each other, let's move to our positions. I've been informed from the higher ups that we'll be known as Team C for this excursion, and we will be tasked with holding the northeastern flank of the city against the bug scourge. Now, follow me!"

* * *

Finn felt his heartbeat quicken as the group emerged from behind the relative safety of the wall into the open bright field surrounding the city. In the distance, he could vaguely make out their adversary. A thick blanket of fog from the repels was obscuring what looked to be thousands of flying bug pokémon. Finn could make out the shadowy forms of beedrill, butterfree, cutifly, yanma, combee, and even the odd beautifly. Their numbers were countless, and taking in the staggering number of bugs left Finn feeling a bit numb.

He maneuvered himself so he was next to Lyra. "Can you believe that," he said, looking out over the fields, concern marring his features.

"It's mind-boggling—I know," she said, her jaw set in grim determination. "It's kind of crazy to think that we've only had our pokémon a few months and yet we're out here, the only thing between those pokémon and the people in the city."

"I'm trying not to think about it to be honest, but I'm glad you made it back okay, and you're not stuck out there," he said, gesturing out at the cloud of gas. "I'm not even sure where my friends are at the moment. They got lost in the mayhem after the alarm sounded. You didn't happen to see my friend you met out on the routes with me, did you?"

They were both slowly moving along with the rest of Team C, traversing along the outside of the wall, heading northeast.

"No, I didn't. They even split Ian and I up, since they needed another high badge trainer to lead another group," said Lyra.

Finn took a deep breath to calm himself. "We'll have to watch each other's backs out there, right?"

"Right," she said, resolute.

Unless the Gym trainers or reinforcements arrived soon, Finn felt like this battle could turn into a massacre. The bug pokémon greatly outnumbered the people he saw forming up into groups along the wall. He hoped that Alan and Orion had found teams with strong leaders.

They kept moving forward. Every fifty yards or so Finn saw an alcove among the rock and masonry of the wall. ACE Stephen let the group know that these were places where people could retreat to if need be. Apparently, the hiding spaces had steel enforced rooms where a person could hide in relative safety. There were even pathways to exit back into the city that were only open on occasions such as these.

One by one, the members of Team C began releasing their type effective pokémon onto the surrounding ground, preparing them for the incoming battle. It was interesting watching pokémon interact with their trainers, each having their own unique mannerisms.

Charles' raboot and dreadnaw materialized onto the ground and went straight into battle mode. Some were like Tori's growlithe, who began to play at her feet, seeking its master's attention.

Finn decided to go ahead and let Felix and Dixie out. Benedict could wait until there was a pressing need for numbers. Both his swinub and combusken had strong moves to use against the types of pokémon they were likely to face.

He rubbed the thick fur behind Felix's ears, and scratched Dixie on one of her feathered shoulders. "Hey guys, look out behind us. We've got a strong enemy today. The plan is to have Dixie be our long-range fighter. Felix, you're going to stay near me in case one of the bugs gets too close. You might need to use protect to save us." Finn turned a serious gaze over to Dixie. "In a few minutes I'm going to have you start warming up your legs to get your speed going."

Suddenly, the three were joined by another set of pokémon. Lyra's pidgeotto, Whisper, and her mareep, Maddy, came over and got reacquainted with Finn's pokémon. Whisper swooped over and brushed her body lightly against Dixie's torso in greeting. They had met before off-route near Route 31. Whisper and Dixie called at each other in their avian speech, while Felix was excitedly scurrying around Maddy's wooly frame.

"How's Froakie doing?" Finn asked, remembering that Lyra was having similar problems with her amphibian partner to what he was experiencing with Larvitar.

"He's doing a bit better. I've named him Bubble, by the way. Right now I'm using Maddy to help curb his more rambunctious side, but he still won't listen much. I'm debating calling up Professor Elm to see if he might have any advice for me."

"He probably will. That man has been a huge help to me too," said Finn, as he began observing the rest of Team C's pokémon.

The most impressive by far were ACE Stephen's pokémon. A crobat, whose purple body was almost as big as Finn's was, was using its four wings to flit around the air. The creature's speed was so great that it was hard to follow its movements.

Stephen only had one other pokémon out, but it was exuding a terrifying aura. Shaped like a chandelier, turquoise-purple flames spouted from its appendages and from the transparent central portion of its body. A chandelure, the fantastically powerful and scary pokémon from Unova that fed on the life energy of humans. That had to be the occupant of the ultra ball he had seen on Stephen's belt earlier.

Suddenly, from up above, he heard a screeching call. A monstrous skarmory glided over from the north end of the wall all along its length to the south and west. The pokémon's steel coated body glinted in the afternoon sun. Sitting atop the shining bird was Falkner, dressed in a type of synthetic matte black armor, a sword sheathed at his hip. There were triangular shaped sets of fabric and plastic affixed to his back. The Gym leader had his arm raised in a fist as he flew past the city's protectors in a symbolic gesture of strength.

One by one, the Gym trainers followed their leader. They soared past, mounted on all manner of species of flying pokémon. Finn recognized most of the species as pidgeot and fearow, but he also saw some of the more exotic fliers like flygon and even a braviary. The trainers' obvious ability to fight while remaining airborne on top of their pokémon was inspiring. They knew what they were doing.

The Gym trainers numbered over twenty, each wearing matching sets of light weight armor covering their upper body and covering their thighs. Together, they descended to the ground in front of the main gates. Their ages ranged from some in their late teens to many who looked older than Falkner himself, who was in his mid-twenties.

Finn could not make out what they were doing, but suddenly there were dozens of pokémon materializing around the group—the majority of which were flying types. He even spotted a massive charizard, nearly as large as the one Lance had.

"Wow, well that definitely makes me feel a bit better. Do you see that charizard?" asked Finn.

Lyra was staring out at the trainers, not in awe, but in respect. "They're here to do their job. Hopefully, they do it well."

"I think we're going to need them to."

* * *

It all began with a single flap of a butterfree's wings. The beautiful creature was on its own, its delicate looking, see-through wings were bright in the sun. The bug flew a bit higher than the rest of the swarm, and floated its way over the rapidly shrinking cloud of repel gas. Noticing that it was clear of the gas, it started flitting its way towards the city.

Like a dam overflowing with water, bugs began cresting overtop the wall of gas and began buzzing towards the city. The hum of thousands of sets of wings became louder and louder as they drew nearer.

"Dixie! Start getting your speed up," called Finn, hurriedly. The bugs were deceptively fast.

On command, his combusken shot off following the side of the wall to begin her sprinting exercises.

Falkner let out a sharp whistle, and the Gym trainers and their teams of bird pokémon took flight as one. The armored group, much smaller than the oncoming horde, coordinated themselves into a line ready to meet the bugs.

In Finn's mind eye, he likened Falkner's trainers to a battering ram, except the target wasn't something easily destroyed, but rather an infinite amorphous cloud of bug pokémon.

"Get ready! They will not hold!" called Stephen. "Spread out along the wall and hold your position!"

As Stephen was doling out instructions, Finn kept his eyes trained on the battle taking place hundreds of yards away. He could see swaths of bugs falling from the skies in torrents of flame; there were beams of energy taking out many opponents at once, but it was not enough. The swarm just grew larger and enveloped the Gym trainers and continued surging towards the city.

His stomach jumped as he realized that the battle was coming to him whether he liked it or not. He and Lyra shared a meaningful glance and dashed down the wall past Charles and Tori, finding their places next to each other.

Within seconds, Finn decided to go ahead and call out Benedict, they would need all the firepower they could get. As if he could feel Finn's stress, the exeggcute sent calming feelings into his mind. It actually worked. Finn felt instantly more self-assured. He gave his pokémon a grateful look, trying to project feelings of appreciation towards his pokémon.

"Felix, be ready with to icy wind on command. Benedict, try slowing them down with confusion and leech seed," said Finn, he watched as Dixie zoomed closer, almost at full speed. "Dixie, stay close and keep up a constant stream of embers!"

To his left, Lyra had her bayleef, Frond, out along with her pidgeotto and mareep. She was issuing orders to her team as well. Further down, he saw Tori, Charles, and Sonya commanding their teams.

Finn would always think back to this battle as the moment in his life where he was most out of control. There was so little between himself and certain death. Only his trust in his team could protect him. A team that he had only been training for three months.

Chaos was not a strong enough word. It was absolute bedlam on the battle field. Once the bugs reached the second line of defense at the wall, all caution was thrown to the wind. ACE Stephen was forty yards down the wall from where Finn and Lyra were, and while he could feel the heat coming from the ACE's chandelure, Finn was only going to get out of this alive by his own wherewithal.

Dixie sniped the first pokémon to come near with an accurate ember attack. The combee fell, only to be replaced by seven more and a vespiquen. From atop the wall, a guard's vulpix spewed fire onto the combee, who continued forward even though their bodies were ablaze.

Everywhere Finn looked there was another bug pokémon. A beedrill sped over at Finn, its foot-long stingers leaking venom onto the earth below, pointed like a three-pronged trident. Not two feet from Finn, it slammed into a shimmering wall of energy. Felix had performed a last second protect technique, and quickly followed up with an icy wind that knocked the beedrill onto the ground.

Taking advantage, Finn drew his hunter's knife and jammed it into the stunned bug's eye before it could recover.

Finn went to praise Felix for the quick thinking, but was immediately accosted by another bug, this time a butterfree. The wings, that at any other time he might take time to admire, began pouring yellow powder into the air above Finn.

"Felix, protect from above! Dixie, we need some fire over here!" Finn breathed out.

At this point Dixie was just a flash of light, she dashed over and shot globs of fire at the opposing bug pokémon, igniting the spores that rained over the shining protect technique that was acting as an umbrella above Finn and Felix.

Abruptly, Finn's mind exploded in a discordance of emotions and pain. Benedict was in trouble. He could feel his pokémon's fear and frustration, but where was he? Finn palmed his forehead trying to clear his mind.

The butterfree's burning body fell from above into the ground before him, and he lifted his head up to scan the field of battle for his second pokémon, gritting his teeth.

To his left, he saw Lyra battling for her life. Maddy the mareep was tossing bolts of electricity into a swarm of beedrill, while her pidgeotto, Whisper, was creating miniature tornados via her gust attack. Lyra's bayleef was shooting magical leaves, targeting specific enemies.

To his right, Charles' raboot was scorching a butterfree with a flamethrower attack. The older Galarian trainer then had to dodge a rock that had been thrown from the ramparts by one of the guard's pokémon.

There. Fifty feet out in front of the wall he finally caught sight of his exeggcute, and his heart plummeted. The vespiquen that was controlling her drones was battering Benedict with poison stings, and was slicing at each of his heads with fury cutter attacks from each of her sharp claws.

"Dixie! Help Benedict!" Finn called, frantically.

Dixie was halfway to Benedict's location, when the vespiquen ordered six of its combee drones to attack the prone grass-psychic type. Finn's pokémon was desperately trying to get traction with his confusion attack, but could not maintain a psychic grip on the naturally resistant bug type. The drones came in pairs, each gripping one side of three of Benedict's head-bodies.

Finn was sprinting forward, Benedict's ball in his hand as he desperately tried to get in range to where he could recall his pokémon. Red beams of light coming from the ball landed helplessly in different places along the ground.

In disbelief, he watched as the six combee tore three of Benedict's heads in half, the nutty insides exposed to the air and falling to the earth. The combee turned to the remaining two of Benedict's heads, when Finn's pokéball finally made it into range and was able to dematerialize what was left of his pokémon—his friend.

Benedict's psychic and grass typing was doubly weak to bug type pokémon. Finn should never have put him in this position. He fell to his knees clutching Benedict's pokéball, shaking.

Dixie shrieked at the queen-bee pokémon in anger and spat enormous globs of fire at the creature, setting the vespiquen and her combee alight. The flames were so fierce that it could almost have been considered a flamethrower attack.

Felix nudged him hard with his head, letting out a yelping noise to get his attention.

He did not have time to wallow in what had happened, the rest of his team was relying on him. His swinub launched another icy wind into the air, destroying the wings of two ribombee that were incoming on Team C's position. Dixie took off again into the fray, helping Lyra's team take down a particularly large dustox.

Up above, he saw some of the Gym trainers were back at the wall fighting the aerial invasion. To Finn's eye, it looked like many of the bugs were already over the wall and had made their way into the city.

Felix yelped again at Finn to get his attention. This prompted him to turn around, where the vespiquen had somehow stifled Dixie's flames and had resumed its attack, shooting needle thin poison stings at Finn. Felix brought up a protect shield yet again, but Finn could tell that the small pokémon was not going to be able to continue using the technique indefinitely.

What occurred next was truly unfathomable. A shadow plunged down from above. Falkner, a set of gliders attached to his back, rushed the vespiquen, slicing its head in half with his sword before spreading his arms out. The gliders on his back mimicked the movements of his arms, opening wide and seemed to magically catch the wind, forcing the Gym leader higher where his skarmory was waiting for him to land smoothly onto its back. The maneuver took less than ten seconds, and the Gym leader was already flying off down the wall seeking their next opponent.

Finn gaped. The display of acrobatics was awe inspiring.

Another swarm of beedrill was incoming. Ten of the massive bugs were steadily homing in on their position. This was getting ridiculous. He would need Felix to remain nearby to use protect in an emergency, and Dixie could not take them all on her own.

In a split-second decision, he tossed Larvitar's pokéball onto the field before him.

"Larvitar, I don't have time for your bullshit. Dixie is going to die unless you help. Get over there and throw rocks at those bugs!" Finn shouted.

Something strange happened. Upon taking in the scene before him, Larvitar's normal, rebellious manner subtly changed. The lizard charged after Dixie, with surprising nimbleness for a rock type.

Felix had to use protect again to hold off a bug buzz attack from a dragonfly-esque pokémon. A yanma. A prompt mud bomb from Felix tore into the bug's clear wings, slowing it down. The swine pokémon was not holding back in his power in the slightest. One icy wind later, and the bug was knocked out.

It was when he looked back over to where Larvitar and Dixie were beginning to get overwhelmed by the beedrill that he decided they had to move to help them. His combusken had taken a stinger to the stomach, and she was obviously in pain. So many fire attacks in a row were not something his pokémon was used to. He had never trained them for prolonged use of their moves.

Larvitar was helping somewhat. Tossing head-sized stones at the bugs was distracting them, allowing for Dixie to set them on fire. There were just too many of the bugs, and not even Larvitar's rock constitution was shielding him from taking a beating.

Finn bolted forwards, hoping that he and Felix could turn the tide of the battle. His other two pokémon had already taken out a few of the beedrill, and by the time Finn reached them, there were only three left.

Another beedrill's stinger plunged into Dixie's side, prompting Finn to recall her. He was not going to take any more chances with his team's safety.

The remaining beedrill swarmed on Larvitar, who was by himself at that point.

"Felix, as strong of an icy wind as you can manage!"

A storm of wind and ice pummeled the three beedrill that were trying to pierce Larvitar's pebbly skin with their stingers. The swath of ice and snow rammed into them, pieces of ice imbedding into their carapaces, disorienting all three of the bugs.

Finn jumped in front of Larvitar, and pivoted his body to avoid a beedrill's left stinger, ramming his knife into the its eye, downing it. Finn had been too slow to avoid the right stinger, and it glanced off of his right bicep, causing Finn to gasp in pain.

Felix slung another blast of ice at the second beedrill, and Larvitar was able to summon another rock to take out the final beedrill. They were lucky that even fully evolved bug pokémon tended to be a bit frail.

Catching his breath, he gripped his right arm. Somehow the stinger had only grazed his skin, leaving a rough raised patch, but thankfully leaving no blood. This meant he was likely not poisoned.

Finn took in the rest of the battlefield. Fires were everywhere. Carcasses of bug pokémon and defenders alike were scattered across the dirt. Behind him, even more bugs were still swarming over the cloud of repel gas, if at a much reduced rate than before.

This was not over. Not by a long shot. He and his team needed to recover though. Finn eyed one of the alcoves spread along the wall's length that were meant as a place to recuperate and hide. The closest one was around two hundred feet away. They could do this.

"Felix, Larvitar, we're going that way," he said, pointing. "We'll take as many bugs out as we can along the way."

Finn did a double take. Larvitar's two eyes were fixating on him in a way that he had not seen before. Was that respect? The little lizard bobbed it head up and down once before taking off in that direction.

They ran. Weaving around obstacles and pokémon, attacking where they could, they made as straight a line as possible for the alcove. Along the way, Felix helped Charles' drednaw take out a butterfree, and they kept on running.

With Dixie injured and Benedict—he could not think about Benedict right now—they had to regroup and heal up.

As Finn moved past, he saw that Lyra was struggling to stave off two more butterfree that were spewing purple powders at her team. Blood clung to spots upon Whisper's body as she flapped her wings desperately, trying to blow away the offending powders. The normally fearless pidgeotto appeared exhausted and battered.

"C'mon Lyra, we've got to recuperate or we're no good to anyone. Follow me!"

The bold, blue-haired girl glanced around, quickly assessing the situation before agreeing.

"Let's go!"

Thirty seconds later, they entered the alcove, where the stone and mortar opened up into a small room. To their right was a steel latched door. Opening it, they whirled into the room, their pokémon following in after them. Lyra slammed the door behind them.

Finn leaned back against the metal, and let himself slide to the floor in fatigue. Felix and Larvitar sat heavily as well, their chests heaving up and down.

"You didn't tell me you had a Larvitar!" asked Lyra, her pretty face scrunched up in affronted incredulity.

"Lyra, it's not really the time for that conversation," said Finn, wiping some sweat from his brow. "What kind of healing potions and tonics do you have? I need to try and treat my combusken. Are your pokémon ok?"

"I think they're just a bit roughed up. Frond—my bayleef—might need an antidote or two though. She was really vulnerable to both the bug and poison attacks. I do have a few other potions, but I need to see which of my team needs them first," she said.

Finn rummaged through his bag, pulling out two antidotes and a few potions. He had enough for his team. Both Felix and Larvitar were in pretty decent shape, but Larvitar had taken a beating while facing those beedrill. He would probably need a potion, and maybe even an antidote. Dixie would as well. Finn would have to wait and see about Benedict's condition. There was no way he was taking him out of stasis in his ball before they had access to a Pokémon Center.

"This isn't over. We need to heal up, and go into the city and try and protect as many people as we can," said Finn, while spraying Larvitar's scuffed skin with a potion. The monster was allowing Finn's ministrations with little fuss, to Finn's immense surprise.

He released Dixie into the room and treated the obviously hurt pokémon's wounds, taking care with the two stinger wounds on her stomach and chest. The easing of pain on her face made Finn feel better about himself and his decision to leave the battle. "Good girl," he cooed, scratching Dixie's crest as he applied the healing items. "Let's rest here for a few minutes and then head into the city proper," said Finn, making himself comfortable on the floor. He turned to his pokémon. "I'm going to return you to your balls so you can rest easier for a while."

Lyra did something similar with her pokémon.

A pounding on the door caused Finn and Lyra to share a concerned glance. Was that a pokémon or a person? Finn immediately called Felix back out, and Lyra released her mareep.

A muffled sound came from the other side. "Open up, please!"

Finn flung the door open, ready for anything. On the other side, Charles and his drednaw were carrying Tori, whose arms were wrapped around the other boy's shoulders. Behind them, four beedrill were homing in on their position, and Tori's growlithe was shooting spurts of fire at them, warding them off.

"Let us in!" Charles said, his composure all but lost.

Finn hauled Tori into the chamber, lying her down on the stone floor. Charles returned his giant rock-turtle pokémon, and Tori's growlithe sprinted into the room, panting incessantly. Lyra then slammed the metal door where thuds could be heard as the beedrill banged into the steel.

"What happened?" asked Finn, pulling his bag out, looking for supplies that could help his injured teammate. Tori was wincing in pain, holding her hand against a puncture wound in her side.

"Sonya, the other one badger in our group got swarmed by combee and beedrill. Tori went in to protect her, but there were simply too many of them," said Charles, looking down. Sweat covered his face, and his formerly perfectly quaffed hair was disheveled. "The other girl—she did not make it."

Finn paled, the small girl, with the freckles and baby-voice. An hour ago, they were all getting to know one another, and now she was gone.

"Here, let me help," said Lyra, taking out some bandages and an antidote from her bag and handing them to Finn, who was kneeling down by Tori. The injured trainer was coated in a sheen of perspiration, and was shivering. Her growlithe had not left her side.

"The antidote will help, but this is beyond our expertise to heal. We have to get her to a Pokémon Center or a hospital, whichever is closest— and fast," said Finn, glancing between Charles and Lyra. "Charles, heal up your team, and we'll take the tunnel into the city. Lyra, use your pokédex to find the closest spot we can take Tori. That'll be our best shot."

Charles shot Finn a semi-dubious look, as if he should not be the one giving out instructions, before realizing an argument would be counterproductive and agreeing. Tori remained silent, conserving her energy.

Finn thought for a moment. "What happened to Stephen, the ACE?" he asked.

"Last I saw, he was still fighting, using that monster of a chandelure of his. That creature was unstoppable," said Charles, while he applied potions to his pokémon.

* * *

The group took a small passageway through the remainder of the wall, and found themselves at an exit into the city. Finn and Charles held the prone form of Tori between them, her arms wrapped around both of their shoulders, with Lyra leading the way towards a Pokémon Center, two blocks away. All of their pokémon that were physically able were out of their balls, ready to fend off the hordes of bugs.

Determined, Finn glanced at the two trainers beside him. These were people he barely knew. Placing his life in their hands at the moment was something he was all but forced to do.

Everything was a bit muted on the other side of the wall, but the sounds of battle could still be heard almost everywhere. A random roar here, or a scream of pain there. The street was clear of people, but the sky was an entirely different story.

Above, Gym trainers were taking on bugs in aerial battles, occasionally sending a dead or knocked out pokémon tumbling through the air onto the cobbled city streets.

The group took off at a fast walk, hobbled by Finn and Charles' carrying Tori between them. Every thirty seconds or so, one of their pokémon would snipe a bug pokémon out of the air. Finn took note that the four badge trainer's pokémon's attacks hit much harder than his own team's. Up front, Lyra had her cerulean pokédex out, helping the group traverse the narrow city streets towards the Pokémon Center.

It was when they were about to turn the corner onto the street where the Center was that a white van drove slowly passed. It was moving as if to not be conspicuous, but Finn's eyes were drawn to the driver; a pink-haired woman that he instantly recognized. He would know that face anywhere. It was the woman from Route 45 who had stolen Orion and Alan's pokémon. She was a part of the group of thieves that almost got Finn and his friends killed.

Upon seeing the hair, his mind flashed back to when they were just reaching Violet city. When the dead metapod had flown out of the truck on Route 31, he had seen the same color hair in the truck that day as well. He made a quick decision.

"Guys, I'm sorry. I think I have to follow that van," said Finn, his head following the van as it slowly made its way down the street.

"Wait, _what_?" said Lyra.

"But we're almost there?" said Charles.

"Exactly. You and Lyra can take Tori the rest of the way. I think the driver of that truck is a criminal, and had something to do with killing all of those bug pokémon. I don't have time to argue," said Finn, beginning to put Tori's arm onto Lyra's shoulder. "Lyra, wait for me at the Pokémon Center. If I don't make it back, find my friend that you met on Route 31 Orion Stripe and tell him that I went after the pink-haired lady from Route 45. If you can't find him, tell Alan O'Toole if you can."

Lyra's face was bunched in confusion. "Pink-haired lady. Route 45. Orion Stripe or Alan O'Toole. Got it, but you owe me an explanation later!"

"Thanks, of course. Good luck, guys," said Finn, turning and beginning to run down the street to where he had seen the van make a sharp turn, Felix and Dixie one step behind him.

Right as he set off, he head Charles ask Lyra, "Now, did I see Finn with a larvitar out on the battlefield?"

To this, Lyra just shrugged. Good girl.

Reaching the intersection, he peered around the building on the corner, holding his hand out behind him to stop his pokémon from continuing onwards. The van was pulling into a parking garage for a large warehouse. Finn waited until it was out of sight before moving again.

Somewhere behind him, multiple large pokémon let out raucous roars. To Finn, it sounded like the reinforcements might have finally arrived.

The parking garage was empty. Finn crouched down behind one of the vehicles, watching the woman exit the van, carrying a large duffle bag. She wore a knee-length black trench coat. Distinctive among her features were her ice blue eyes. She had three pokéballs on her belt, and strode with purpose into the warehouse. As she walked, he saw her pass a familiar beige truck.

Finn kept low, going from car to car until he reached the entryway. Placing his hand on the door handle, he stopped. There could be dozens of people beyond this door. Even the bloody-faced man with the crawdaunt could be there. As a trainer, that man was still way out of Finn's league. Was he willing to risk everything for answers? Maybe not. But if he kept quiet, and did not bring attention upon himself, maybe he could get some answers and still come out of this unscathed.

Finn knelt next to his swinub, and said, "Felix, I'm going to recall you. If we make too much noise, we might be noticed. Dixie, stay low."

He opened the door.

A long, linoleum tiled hallway was lit by plastic-covered lights overhead. A door every ten feet or so made Finn feel on edge. There could be any number of people there, or it could just be the pink-haired lady.

Further down the hallway, Finn saw a glass window that overlooked the warehouse. Ducking low, he maneuvered himself until he was below the window. Then, he peered over the lower edge into the cavernous room beyond.

The warehouse was immensely large, probably two battle arena's could fit within the single space. In rows, tables were covered in scientific equipment—computers, liquids in beakers, and specimen cages. Surrounding the workspaces were transparent plastic domes, keeping each grouping of desks from being exposed to the outside air. A stylized 'R' logo was embossed on the plastic doors to each dome.

He could not see anyone working. It was empty.

On the lab table closest to the window, Finn made out the shape of what had once been a kakuna. Its body was bisected through the middle. Next to the cadaver were microscopes and bottles full of fluorescent green liquid. This was it. They were experimenting on the bugs, but what for?

Below, a shock of pink hair moved into the room. He heard a muffled feminine voice speaking on the phone. "So you just want me to burn all of this up? The room is _huge_?" The person on the other end of the phone must have been speaking because she was silent for a moment. "Yes, I can get it done. It just seems a waste is all. Nobody even knows we're here."

Finn waited with baited breath, hoping he could glean more information from the phone call.

"The leader is moving forward with further experiments in Azalea and at Lake Rage? Mm-hmm—got it. Zeta over and out."

The woman, Zeta it seemed, hung up. She dropped one of her pokéballs onto the ground. The pokémon that took shape had Finn feeling a ghost-pain on his arm. It was a bone-crested hellhound pokémon—a houndour. It did not look nearly as fearsome as the crawdaunt that her partner had back on Route 45. Thinking quickly, Finn was trying to decide if he should back out of here without engaging the woman and let the authorities know what he heard, or see if he could take her on in battle. Bringing this woman to someone higher up in the League would be satisfying. It could also lead to some more information being extracted about what this operation was.

Before Finn could make a decision, the woman's houndour began spewing flames all across the warehouse. The creature of fire was sprinting down the interior wall of the building, sporadically spitting flames.

Realization dawned, this building was going to come down. Finn stood tall, and saw a potential opportunity. As fast as he could, he opened each door of the hallway on his way out. If there were documents of anything of use, he picked them up and stuffed them in his bag before moving on. After the last door was opened, he saw a laptop. Grabbing it, he sprinted back out of the building onto the street, Dixie at his side.

Smoke billowed from the top of the building, clouding up the clear sky. Looking up, he did not see anymore battles taking place.

* * *

AN: Please let me know what you think!

**Finn:**  
Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
? – Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken

**Orion:**  
Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp  
Drake - Treecko  
Tufts - Mareep

**Alan:**  
? - Phanpy  
? - Shroomish  
? - Luxio


	10. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thank you to user Noxy88, who has kindly begun acting as a beta for this story. If you notice a sudden uptick in quality, it should probably be attributed to their kind help!

**Chapter 10** : Aftermath

The warehouse was going to burn fast. Already, a huge plume of smoke could be seen drifting up from the center of the building where the pink-haired woman's houndour had ravaged the structure's interior. Thinking fast, Finn realized he needed to find someone who could come stop the fire from spreading to the adjacent buildings and recover whatever evidence they could discover. It would suck to survive the Code Red only to have your business, condo, or home burn down in the aftermath. Deciding that the Pokémon Center was closest, Finn hastily crammed the laptop he had found into his bag. Then, he took off at a sprint, his combusken easily keeping up with him.

A minute went by, and Finn passed a couple of trainers who looked like they were helping clear out the remaining bug pokémon from the city's interior. One of the trainers had a kingler scuttling beside him; its red-orange shell was scuffed from battle and its left eye was swollen shut.

"Hey, is it over yet?" asked a breathless Finn, slowing down to a stop.

One of the trainers turned to him and called out, "Just about, we got back-up from Blackthorn and Azalea around thirty minutes ago. Just keep on the lookout for any stray bugs!"

Finn's gaze shifted to the large crustacean pokémon and then back towards the column of smoke rising in the distance. "There's a building on fire back there. Do you think your kingler could help?"

"Oh shit, here—let me call it in on my pokédex," said the second trainer, taking the red device out of his pocket. "What's the address?"

Finn helped him drop a pin at the right location, and saw the other trainer's fingers moving swiftly along the pokédex's keypad. Finn wondered if he should tell the two trainers about the lab, but decided better of it. He would tell the first person in a position of authority that he found.

Curious about what was happening with the bugs, Finn asked, "Hey, do you think I should head back to the city wall, or are they all good there? I'd like to get my team checked out at the Pokémon Center."

His thoughts turned to Benedict. Finn had no idea how his exeggcute would fare from the damage he had taken during the battle. The literature was a mess when it came to exeggcute that lost some of their egg-bodies. Ever since he'd caught the grass type, he had spent time researching the species. Some sources said that the pokémon would die if it lost too many pieces of itself, while others said that they would regenerate. One entry he'd read stated that another egg-head would show up the next day, like magic. There were obviously many wonders in the world of pokémon, but to Finn that explanation rang hollow.

"If you can wait on the Pokémon Center, I bet they could use a hand out beyond the wall. They're clearing the battlefield of the dead and injured," said the kingler's trainer, a solemn tone to his voice.

Littered across the city streets were signs of damage. Shattered glass from where random attacks had struck sky-scrapers lay scattered along the sidewalk, and the occasional small crater could be seen marring what had once been a busy metropolitan area. Every fifteen feet or so, late-spring blooming ornamental apricorn trees lined the streets, forming an eerie juxtaposition between beauty and tragedy.

Finn had told Lyra to wait for him at the Pokémon Center when he had left her, Charles, and Tori, but if what the kingler trainer had said was true, they were still needed at the city wall. He decided to stop by to see if Lyra wanted to join him and check on Tori before going to help.

When Finn rounded the corner closest to the Pokémon Center, he found the line for healing services extended out past the Center's double doors and bleeding into the street, the trainers were waiting anxiously in varying states of distress. He did not see Lyra among them. As Finn approached, he gave Dixie a quick head scratch and a 'thank you,' before recalling the fire type into her pokéball and walking inside.

The pokémon hospital was one of the only places to remain operational during the Code Red, and it was filled to the brim with trainers and disaster relief workers. Pokémon healing had been limited to only the most critical of cases since normally pokémon could remain in stasis for up to a day before their condition would begin deteriorating.

This rendered the nurses and their pokémon helpers inundated with human patients that would normally go to a regular hospital. Unused to the strain that the swarm had brought, harried looking nurses, blissey, and audino were rushing past him in semi-ordered chaos. It was like a heatmor had knocked over a durant nest, and the colony was trying to get everything back in order.

Through the crowd, he saw Lyra. She sat slumped on the tile floor with her back resting against the wall. She stared out into the crowd unfocused, as if not really seeing anything.

"Hey there," said Finn, walking up.

Lyra's eyes came alive. "Finn! You're back!" She sprang up off the floor and wrapped her arms around Finn in a crushing hug. "What happened?" she demanded.

Finn froze for a moment, confused by the sudden hug. His family had never been the type for hugging. The last one he remembered receiving was from his mother before she passed years before. He just stood there awkwardly while Lyra squeezed the life from him.

"It's good to see you too. I'll tell you in a moment—how's Tori?" he asked.

"She's going to pull through just fine. It was nothing they couldn't fix. Charles is in with her now," said Lyra.

Finn felt an immediate sense of relief. At least they had accomplished _some_ good. "Lyra, I met some trainers on my way back. They said that the wall is a mess and that they'd take any help they can get. I'm going to head there now if you want to come?"

* * *

On the way to the wall Finn filled Lyra in on what happened at the warehouse. To do that, he'd had to give the other girl the rundown on his entire journey thus far. She was appropriately understanding, and now sympathized with why their group did not make it to the Cherrygrove tournament.

"This might surprise you, but my parents didn't want me training either," said Lyra.

Bewildered, Finn turned to her. "What do you mean? You must've gotten one of the top three scores in the whole region to get a starter from Professor Elm. That's _amazing_. Your parents really didn't get you tutors or anything like that?"

Lyra blushed, and brushed a flyaway strand of blue hair behind her ear. "You're right about that, but no, they didn't—I actually got the top score by the way. I studied in secret late at night for months before the exam," she said, pausing as a wistful expression passed over her face. "My parents didn't really support my decision to become a trainer until they saw how well I did in the Cherrygrove tournament. Once they were able to brag to their friends that their _darling_ daughter was on television and had won a tournament, they changed their tune really fast."

Frowning, Finn said, "That must've been tough for you. I'm sure they care though."

"They do. I think," she replied.

The two trainers finally reached their destination. The front gates were wide open, with people helping out wherever they could. It was like a scene from one of the old Kanto-Johtan war movies, only it was occurring in one of the most populated cities in Johto.

A large contingent of ACE trainers had arrived, moving about in their navy uniforms. ACE were the League's elite unit of trainers that fought the country's battles for them. In general, they dealt in general defense as well as military pursuits, but in times of peace they trained and helped combat rogue pokémon.

All manner of flying type pokémon were flapping to and from the battlefield, gathering dead bugs and placing them into piles to be burned. Finn assumed these were mostly Falkner's Gym trainer's pokémon. In surprise, Finn even spotted a rather small and lithe dragonite amongst the others; carrying an assortment of bugs in its creamy orange arms, gently laying the dead creatures atop a massive pile of beedrill, butterfree, and other bugs. If Finn had to guess, the rare dragon was likely part of the reinforcements from Blackthorn. Between Leader Clair and Champion Lance, the two dragon trainers owned six of the twelve members of the dratini line on competitive rosters between Kanto and Johto.

To Finn's right, people were carrying stretchers with wounded trainers to a tent where field medics were stationed. A large chansey was there, its blubber filled body wobbling from one bed to the next.

To Finn's left, a more unsettling area lay. Strewn across the ground were row upon row of blankets laid discreetly on top of what Finn could only guess were trainers that had perished during the battle. His stomach dropped upon seeing how many of them there were. Poor Sonya would be there.

He shook his head, and had a depressing thought cross his mind, ' _What if one of those blankets was covering Alan or Orion?_ '

Internally, he mourned the loss of life and talent. Maybe the huge number of zero and one badge trainers in the city were more unprepared than he thought. Hell, Tori was a four-badge trainer, and she had almost died too.

"C'mon, let's find whoever is in charge," rasped Finn, steeling his resolve. Beside him, he saw a solitary tear trickle down Lyra's cheek.

He had to let a Gym leader or a high-ranking ACE know about what he had discovered at the warehouse. His eyes scanned the area for someone who might be a leader of some sort. The scene unfolding around him felt surreal. It was like someone would wake him up any moment, and everything would be back to normal.

"Look over there," said Lyra, pointing past the open gate. "You said you knew leader Clair, right?"

There she was. The Blackthorn Gym leader was in her element, her majestic kingdra, Aurora, floating nearby surveying the recovery efforts. Clair's light armor was covered in blood and grime from the battle, and she was speaking with two other recognizable figures.

Leader Falkner was listening intently to Clair, his windswept brown hair sticking up in odd directions. He still had those remarkable gliders adorning his back.

Gym leader Bugsy of Azalea was there too. A newcomer to the Gym scene, the twenty-year-old bug trainer was short, with intense somewhat feminine features. His eyes and hair shared an odd lavender color. At his side, a frightening blood red scizor stood. The steel-bug type evolution of scyther, was one of the most dangerous pokémon you could face in the wilds of Johto. Its exoskeleton was made of metal, and its rounded claws could fell a giant oak with one punch.

A couple of years prior, Bugsy had taken the Gym circuit by storm, beating three of the Elite Four before losing in an epic match with Elite Karen. After that, he'd been elevated to Gym leader in Azalea since the Gym leader there was aging and wanted to retire. He was impressive mostly because very few people ever went toe-to-toe with the Elite Four, much less at such a young age.

Finn was having trouble understanding it, but the three Gym leaders standing together were exuding a sense of _otherness_. It was like there was something extra to them that the rest of the trainers around them somehow lacked, a gravitas. His eyes lingered on Falkner's gliders, reminding Finn of how the flying type Gym leader had literally flown to his rescue during the battle.

Growing up in Johto, stories were often told of pokémon trainers that _change_ because of their close bond to their teams, but he'd never seen any evidence of it before. Could Falkner actually fly—or somehow manipulate the air around himself like a pokémon?

Finn and Lyra walked up to the rather intimidating group. A pair of ACE trainer's were waiting a few feet away from the Gym leaders, itching for the trio to finish their conversation.

"Boy, can't you see that we're busy. Wait over there with the others," said Falkner, his sharp eyes indicating the other waiting trainers.

Falkner's biting words brought the attention of the other two Gym leaders onto Finn and Lyra. Clair's brows rose at the sight of Finn, and she offered him a small smile.

"Finn, so glad to see that you are alright," she said, moving over to put a hand on his shoulder. "But Falkner is correct, no matter how rudely he phrased it. We are rather busy organizing this wretched mess. Would you mind waiting for a moment?"

"I know you're busy Leader Clair, but I actually think this is really important," said Finn, fidgeting with his hands. "I think I found something out about the people who caused all of this."

"What do you mean _people_?" she said, turning a stern eye over to Falkner, "I thought this was a rogue pokémon swarm, not one caused by human influence?"

"That's what we decided was most likely. There were a couple of reports over the past few weeks of dead bug pokémon attributed to people, but they were anecdotal and didn't strike us as large-scale enough to be the cause of such a huge attack," said Falkner, unperturbed.

"If you wouldn't mind listening for a moment," Finn said, trying his best to be assertive, and prompting a cold glare from the flying type Gym leader. "Did you all get a missive about a fire taking place near the Pokémon Center inside the city?"

Falkner took a minute to scroll through the messages in his pokédex before nodding tersely. "Yes, we did. Clair, I think you sent some of your Gym trainers with water types to counter that one?"

"Indeed. But Finn, what does this fire have to do with the matter at hand?" she asked.

"One moment, I'll get to that in a second. Leader Clair, do you remember when Orion, Alan, and I were attacked back on Route 45?" asked Finn. At her nod he continued, "Well, I recognized one of our attackers earlier today while we were getting a member of Team C to the Pokémon Center for healing. I thought that I saw her last week when we reported a bunch of dead bug pokémon in the back of a pickup truck to the guards at the wall here. When I realized it was the same woman, I decided to follow her. She stopped at a warehouse, and inside you could tell that they were conducting experiments on bug pokémon, except it seems that they chose today to abandon the place. The woman made her houndour to light the warehouse on fire! Also, the _same_ truck we saw last week was parked outside!"

At this, leader Bugsy chimed in. "What exactly did you see in the warehouse? What were they doing with the bugs?" he said, tossing his lavender hair over his shoulder.

Finn described the plastic domes, the dissected kakuna and metapod, and the green substance he'd seen. He even mentioned the stylized 'R' on the domes' plastic doors.

"This is troubling," said Bugsy. "We'll have to call your trainers Clair to let them know to preserve as much evidence as they can." Bugsy took a moment to think. "Do you think this could be them?"

Falkner shot the other leader a smoldering look, clearly intimating 'not right now.'

Finn spoke up again. "That's not all though. I heard the lady I followed speak to someone about further plans in Azalea Town, and up by Lake Rage." Finn then remembered about what he'd taken from the lab. "Oh! And I took this stuff from the building before it burnt down!"

Finn took his pack off, and removed the laptop and paperwork he'd found.

Clair tilted her head, considering him. "That was very resourceful Finn. We will of course use these as we investigate. I do want you to understand that what you did was dangerous, and I do not want you following people that you suspect are criminals in the future. Now, for the moment, go off and help us clear up the battlefield if you are able, and I will find you later."

Finn thought of one last thing. "Wait, Leader Clair, have you heard from Orion at all today? I haven't seen any of my friends since before this all happened."

"Oh, yes of course. Orion was actually the reason I was alerted to the situation as quickly as I was. The alarm that went off prior to his match prompted me to give him a call and help coordinate Blackthorn's relief efforts. He should be over there somewhere," she said, gesturing to the southwestern part of the wall.

"Thank you!" said Finn, before he and Lyra left the group to their important work.

"Dang, that was kind of intense," said Lyra, glancing over her shoulder as they walked away.

"You get used to Clair's way of speaking after a while. She's actually really pleasant to be around."

It took the two trainers around ten minutes to find Orion through the maze of craters in the ground and trainers helping clear debris and dead pokémon.

Orion was helping another trainer pile up more bugs, his pants were ripped along the bottom and there was a dribble of blood that had dried dark red across his cheek. What stood out most though was the four-foot-tall forest green lizard-like pokémon that was helping him gather bug pokémon into a wheel barrow, it appeared that Orion's treecko—Drake—had evolved into a grovyle.

"Orion!" shouted Finn coming over and giving the older teen their usual handshake that had them grasping each other's hands in an arm-wrestler's grip.

He stood back, noticing the haunted look in the older teen's eyes. "You okay man? Have you seen Alan?" said Finn.

Orion sighed. "I'm glad you're okay Finn, really man. This has been the craziest day of my life," he said, while scratching his grovyle's rough scales behind his leaf crest. "I had hoped that Alan was with you though, but I'm guessing he wasn't then?"

"Nah, the crowd was absolutely insane at the Gym, and I thought we'd all end up meeting at the wall, but I never found you guys."

"Well Clair called me when the Gym's live feed went out after the flashing red lights began right before my match. I helped get her up to speed on what was happening, and waited for her while she coordinated with her Gym trainers to come and help. I tell you what, those guys are awesome," he said animatedly, before finally noticing Lyra. "Lyra! It's good to see you. I'm assuming that you and Finn went through the battle together? I'm happy he had a strong trainer with him."

Lyra waved, and shot Orion a grim half smile. "Hi Orion, yeah we were together. It was pretty wild over on our side too. One of the trainers in our team didn't make it… and another's in the hospital—Finn's exeggcute got hurt really bad too."

"Benedict's hurt?" he asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I need to get him to the Pokémon Center soon, but he'll last in stasis in his ball for now," said Finn, his eyes dropping to the ground. He didn't think the remaining two pieces of his exeggcute were too badly damaged, it was just how Benedict would react to losing two-thirds of his body that worried Finn most. "I really have no idea if he'll make it through or not though. It'll depend on what the nurses say."

"Argh, I'm so sorry man. We also had it pretty bad. Even though I was helping out Clair's dragon trainers, I saw a lot of other kids and pokémon go down. There were just so many bugs! I felt really lucky to have had so much protection," said Orion.

"Congrats on Drake by the way," said Finn, taking in the grass-lizard's menacing new form. "We all knew that he was close to evolving."

The pokémon in question jutted out his sharp green jaw, pretending not to notice that the group was talking about him.

"Thanks, yeah—he actually saved my ass. He was getting wrecked by some beedrill, and I was on the verge of recalling him before he evolved and took out a small swarm all on his own."

They all recounted the events of the battle in greater detail, and Finn let Orion know about what happened at the warehouse. Orion met the news with disbelief. They finally had some tangible news on the group that robbed them on Route 45. He was upset, and also hopeful that one day his first pokémon, a geodude he had named Ajax, would be returned to him.

For the rest of the afternoon, the group helped out as much as they could at the wall. The sheer number of pokémon that needed to be burned was astounding. Even bug species like butterfree and beedrill that bred extremely quickly would need years to recover their populations after this.

After constantly using her ember attacks, he could tell that his combusken was worn out, but Dixie kept on going, impressing him. Felix wasn't his usual jovial self when he materialized out onto the ground, but Finn couldn't really blame the swinub. It had been a long day. Felix couldn't really do too much to help clear the field of debris without arms, but the ice-ground type went around filling in large holes in the ground with soil, flattening the earth back to its original state. The work was getting him some good practice with ground manipulation.

Hours later, Finn, Orion, and Lyra were about to head back to the Pokémon Center when Leader Clair came their way. The rather slender dragonite that Finn had spotted earlier was lumbering next to her, making the imposing woman look small in comparison.

"Finn, Orion, Ms. Saba, I wanted to catch you before you left," she said.

Finn had been unaware of Lyra's last name prior to then, but it did not seem out of the ordinary for a Gym leader to recognize the Cherrygrove rookie champ. At this point, the exhaustion was getting to them, but they all stopped and acknowledged the Gym leader with respect.

"Look, I wanted to let you know that we have people looking into the warehouse, and that I will let you know when we have any developments. I will not be able to go into the finer details of a live investigation, but as someone negatively affected by this group—," at this Clair looked at Orion as well, "—and someone I know personally, I will try to keep you apprised of the situation as best that I can, especially if we are able to find your missing pokémon."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Orion.

"Finn, I know I talked about helping you out with a certain pokémon of yours. I will give you a call on your pokédex later to discuss it," said Clair. "Get some rest you three."

Finn appreciated the Gym leader's tact, even though both Orion and Lyra both knew that he had Larvitar. "Thank you, Leader Clair. I will say that I think I may not need to go through with as extreme of an option as we discussed. I think I may have had a breakthrough with my pokémon during the battle today," said Finn.

For the first time Clair looked startled. "You used it during the battle today?" She glanced between Orion and Lyra. "Do they know?"

"Yeah, I kind of had to use him, it was life or death out there. But yeah, both Lyra and Orion know about the little guy. When my exeggcute went down, I don't know if we would've even made it to the safe room in the wall if I hadn't used him. There was so much death and destruction going on… I doubt many people noticed," said Finn.

Clair sighed, and suddenly looked older than she actually was. "I'm so very sorry you had to go through this ordeal—all of you. Cities as large as this should be better prepared than we were. It is something Falkner and I will be speaking about at length. I may even have to involve my cousin with this. That said, using your larvitar was a risky thing. I truly hope that nobody unsavory caught sight of you out there. It could turn out very poorly for you if they did."

Finn gulped. "I don't think too many people saw him. We were all so preoccupied with surviving to really look around."

"Let's hope. Anyhow, please keep in touch regarding his development. I have to get back," said Clair.

* * *

The sun was starting to set when, like zubat emerging from their caves every evening, people began to leave the city's Safety Shelters, returning to their homes after the Code Red. The trio of trainers was nearing the Pokémon Center when they spotted Alan among a mass of people exiting the building's double doors.

"Alan!" shouted Orion, relieved to see the other trainer unhurt. "Over here!"

The blonde-haired teen rushed over, greeting his friends. Not having met Lyra before, introductions were made.

"So what happened to you, man?" asked Finn, scanning his friend for any sign of injury.

"After my battle I got caught up in the crowd, and headed for the wall," he said, "I didn't even get my badge or winnings after my match. Once I got there, they sent me back to the Safety Shelter. They said my pokémon were too injured after my Gym battle to be much use."

Even through his happiness at seeing Alan alive, one of Finn's eyebrows rose slightly in skepticism. Yes, Alan's phanpy had been knocked out during his Gym battle, but his luxio had evolved right at the end of the fight, and in doing so, recovered from any injuries it had before. Two of Alan's three pokémon would have probably been just fine to battle. Part of Finn realized he was being overly critical, and he was just tired and still upset over Benedict. Finn should be glad that his friend did not have to endure the deadly swarm of bugs like the rest of them had.

"Aw, that's good. I wouldn't have wished that battle upon anyone," said Finn, stopping in consideration. "Except maybe Vince."

* * *

"Mr. Abernathy, please come to the front desk," a voice called over the intercom system.

Finn took a deep breath to calm himself, knowing that he would learn of Benedict's fate in the coming moments. It had been agony waiting in line for service once the Pokémon Center had resumed its normal functions, but he was finally going to get some answers.

He reached the front desk of the Pokémon Center, and stood nervously in front of the nurse.

"I'm Finn Abernathy, do you have news about my pokémon?"

"Yes, young man, why don't you follow me back to one of our patient rooms," the Nurse Joy on duty said. The nurse was holding a tray with all four of his pokéballs resting in plastic holders.

Nurses in Johto and Kanto had to go through extensive schooling at university in order to gain their 'Joy' certification. The name Joy came from a prominent family of pokémon nurse specialists that revolutionized the profession with their chansey partners seventy or so years prior. The scions of the family were easily recognizable, as they tended to all have light pink hair. Finn thought that the nurse from the Pokémon Center in Blackthorn might have been descended from the family.

They walked around the corner hallway and through a side door. This patient room was large with a faucet and sink next to a bed in one corner. The rest of the room was covered in cushioned padding, big enough for an ursaring to lay comfortably.

"Well, let me just start by saying thank you for coming to the city's aide in our time of need. Many people out there look down on trainers, but us in the Pokémon Center see the aftermath of what you all have to go through to protect us—so, thank you."

Finn was taken aback, not expecting the sentiment. Wasn't protecting Johto's cities a huge part of the League trainer's job description? His thoughts then drifted to his step-dad and his views on pokémon trainers, and even Lyra's family that had only found the idea of being a trainer appealing once she won a televised tournament. Many normal people did not like trainers at all.

"Thank you, ma'am. That is kind of you to say, but I'm really worried about my exeggcute," said Finn, fiddling with the worn hem of his shirt between his index finger and thumb. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Let me go ahead and give you the rest of your team first. Your swinub, larvitar, and combusken are all in great health. We just had to purge some residual poison from their systems, and they are as good as new. Here are their pokéballs," she said, handing Finn the plastic tray where he proceeded to clip them to his trainer belt. "Now, your exeggcute is a little bit more complicated. I'm assuming that during the attack, some of his pseudobulbs were damaged or destroyed?"

"Pseudobulbs ma'am? Do you mean his heads? Then yes, they w—were torn apart by some combee," replied Finn, eyes in his lap.

"A pseudobulb is the scientific term for what your exeggcute's heads actually are. Pseudobulbs absorb energy and store it for the plant system they are a part of. Right now, your exeggcute just has two left, and with that come some complications. Firstly, just the shock of losing a portion of itself may cause your exeggcute—Benedict—to suffer some psychological problems. The two bulbs that are left do appear to be quite large, so there's a chance that they held within them the the biggest portions of your pokémon's personality before the accident, which could aid in his recovery—at least with his mental state. Either way, you will have to be very patient with him. Furthermore, exeggcute tend to attack with a combination of the psychic power that is amplified by each head the pokémon has. As such, your pokémon will be incredibly weakened until it can regenerate another four pseudobulbs."

"Does that mean he'll be ok?" asked Finn, relief beginning to show on his face. "How long might something like that take?"

"The average exeggcute takes two months to regenerate one pseudobulb. The good news is that with treatment the two remaining heads will simultaneously generate another bulb over the next two months, leaving him at four bulbs. A nitrogen fertilizer spray along with ample sunshine should help them along. The new head-bodies will be small for another couple of months after that, and not functional for battle, but your pokémon could fully recover by this time next year. The problem arises from the fact that you are a traveling trainer going through the Gym circuit, am I right?" she asked.

Finn was blown away, partially with relief, and partially with frustration. Benedict could regenerate, but it could take over a year for him to return to the battling potential that he had just yesterday? For a split-second, he wondered if he could even allow Benedict to continue taking up a slot on his team of six if he couldn't battle? Guilt welled up inside him as he realized that he wasn't sure. All he knew was that the thought of not keeping his friend around was repugnant.

"Yeah, I am. I was really hoping to use Benedict throughout my challenges, but if he can't battle, then I'm not sure what I can do with him," said Finn.

"There is one other option I could suggest if you want to have Benedict up and battling in the next few months. It is risky though, so you might prefer the long route," said the nurse, somberly.

Finn became resolute in his desire for the fastest way to treatment. "I have to know. What is it?"

"If you can procure a leaf stone, you could evolve your exeggcute into an exeggcutor once the first set of pseudobulbs have detached from their parent bulbs. This would probably be two to three months down the line. Evolution can heal many wounds, and a six-bulb exeggcute often loses three of its heads to provide a body for its evolved form. Studies have shown that exeggcute, if they're well taken care of, can evolve with fewer bulbs. We couldn't be one-hundred percent certain of the results if you go with that option though, but it does offer you a path to battle viability in the near future," she said.

Finn had always wanted to try evolving Benedict on his own without resorting to using a leaf stone, like so many other trainers had done before him. Gym leader Erika of Celedon city in Kanto had published a method years ago involving the summer solstice and inducing a massive amount of physical and psychic training fatigue, but if using a stone was what it was going to take to get his pokémon up and running, that is what Finn would do. He would give Professor Elm a call and see if he had an opinion on the matter. All Finn could concentrate on now was giving Benedict the best care he could while he was recuperating over the coming months.

There was another problem that arose from needing to use a leaf stone. Luxury items like evolution stones sold at a premium. Finn would have to start putting aside a pile of money for the stone. Scarce resources such as evolution stones were in high demand from traveling trainers, and there were only so many to go around. While Finn had made a lot of money battling trainers on his way to Violet, most of that was going to go towards food and other items he needed for his pokémon.

The nurse handed Finn Benedict's pokéball, and he thanked her profusely for her help. He then left the Pokémon Center after filling a prescription of nitrogen spray fertilizer at the pharmacy counter. Part of him was numb to what had happened. It was frustrating to know that after all that he and his team had gone through, it was still not enough. Benedict had been a constant in Finn's life from the time he'd left Blackthorn, and now he wasn't sure if his friend would even be the same pokémon the next time he let him outside his pokéball.

Finn could acknowledge that most of his team had fared exceptionally well during the attack. It was more of an indictment against Finn that Benedict had been hurt at all.

He would just have to be _better_.

* * *

AN: Please let me know what you think! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/concerns/grammar issues/etc.

**Finn:**  
Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
? – Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken

**Orion:**  
Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp  
Drake - Grovyle  
Tufts - Mareep

**Alan:**  
? - Phanpy  
? - Shroomish  
? - Luxio


	11. Consequence & Contemplation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, special thanks to Noxy88 for betaing this story, he's been an incredible help. He sees stuff that I don't even think about in the first draft.

**Chapter 11:** Consequence & Contemplation

Finn awoke from a restless sleep. It had been one of those nights where warmth and comfort eluded him, forcing him to groggily rise and meet the day in spite of the deep weariness he still felt.

He shivered. Finn was lying in a cot in a tent outside the Pokémon Center. The tent-city had formed over the course of a few hours the day before, and was meant for displaced trainers and citizens. Many people had lost their homes, and no small number of trainers were either injured, or were recommended not to venture back out onto the routes so soon after the attack. Finn had used up all of his allotted time at the Center, so the tent was a better, more frugal option than anything else he had.

He peeled off a rough-spun wool blanket, and flipped his legs around so that his feet met the floor. Deciding that it was time to get moving whether he liked it or not, he began lacing up his boots. Hopefully the Pokémon Center would have a pot of coffee started.

Finn passed by the still slumbering forms of his friends, and parted the tent flap, making his way outside. The unseasonably cool morning air rushed over the exposed skin of his face, washing away some of his fatigue. To the east, the sun had not yet risen, but the sky was slowly beginning to blush with color.

Letting out a yawn, Finn strode through the Center's automatic doors, finding the place operating at a sedate, early morning pace. The nurse at the front desk sat quietly reading the day's issue of the _Violet Interpreter_. Finn followed his nose to where a staff member had made a fresh pot of coffee in the waiting room.

The television there was airing an old episode of _Finding Suicune_. The show depicted people chasing sightings of the titular legendary pokémon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the creature. To date, there was no photographic evidence of Suicune's existence, but the show's flamboyant host, Eusine, made the viewer believe that they were _this_ close to finding it each week. As a kid, Finn had loved the show. Each episode had made him feel like he was on an adventure with Eusine, traveling through ancient forests to discover hidden lakes alongside the host's trusty hypno, and whatever person had purportedly seen the legendary that week.

While Eusine had never found the legendary suicune, he had found some other interesting pokémon along the way. There was one episode where he caught an alternate colored magikarp. Finn remembered how its gold scales glimmered in comparison to the normal drab red. Collectors called pokémon like this 'shiny,' and they were extraordinarily rare and could fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auction. On another occasion, Eusine found a colony of beldum, which were a protected species in most regions.

A whooshing sound behind him signaled that someone else had come through the doors after him. Looking over, he spotted a scrawny teen close to Finn's age. He had disheveled brown hair, and dirty clothing. None of those factors detracted from the determined set to his jaw. The unkempt teen marched straight up to the counter and put forth a pokéball.

"I'm here to update my license and register my first pokémon," he all but demanded.

Finn was strongly reminded of when he had first registered Felix back in Blackthorn. He'd been so full of confidence to finally become a trainer. He took a sip of his coffee, letting the warm liquid send him the energy he needed to wake up properly.

"Good morning, sir. Very well, please hand over your current license, and your pokéball please," the Nurse Joy replied, while typing on the desktop computer at her terminal. "Let's see here, Mr.—?"

"Radcliff."

She looked down at his license. "That's right, Radcliff," she said. "As this will be your first pokémon. Let's do a quick scan and see what we're dealing with, ok."

The nurse placed the pokéball into a concave half-sphere scanner behind her.

"Hmm," she said, frowning at the machine. "Sir, are you aware of what pokémon you have here?"

"Of course I am!" he said. "It's a combee. It's a strong one too!"

At this, the nurse's voice took on a pitying tone. "Yes, but it's a _male_ combee," she chastised.

"What's that got to do with anything?" said the teen, frustration leaking into his voice.

"Quite a lot, actually. Male combee are nothing but drones for the vespiquen to control. In catching one, you've managed to catch a pokémon that will fly around unaided, collecting pollen for honey, but that's about it. It will not learn attacks, and it will not listen to you. In fact, I hesitate to even grant you your pokémon license at all with a male combee as your first pokémon, even though it's technically within League regulations."

Something within the boy seemed to crumple in on itself. "But, but… I spent all of that money on the pokéball. This was my chance... You're saying that Combee won't be able to battle at all?"

"I am sorry Mr. Radcliff, but for you to challenge other trainers and take on the Gym circuit, you are going to have to try and catch something else. I would be doing you a disservice by telling you anything different. For now, I will heal your pokémon. Good luck," she said.

The dejected boy trudged out of the Pokémon Center with a sad sort of acceptance about him. Finn really felt for the kid. If his first pokémon had turned out to be something like that, he didn't know what he would have done.

* * *

Finn was on his second cup of coffee and his third _Trainer Daily_ article on training ground types to manipulate their element, when his friends arrived. Now that it was a more reasonable hour, trainers had begun milling about the lobby going about their business. He put down the pokédex.

The night before, they had all discussed leaving the city on a training trip. They all wanted to get out of the city for a while. Violet was in deep repair mode, and Falkner was not taking challengers on for another week so his Gym could help with the reconstruction. Since Orion's challenge had been the one interrupted by the attack, he had the first available time slot when the Gym reopened, but it still meant that their group was set back once again.

This time, Finn did not mind in the slightest. Similar to what he'd felt back in Blackthorn after being attacked by the pink-haired woman and her friends, Finn was beginning to rethink his plans for the near future. Benedict and his team deserved better.

"You guys ready?" asked Finn, standing.

"Yep!" said Orion, _entirely_ too enthusiastically for how early it was. Alan grunted in the affirmative, and Lyra made a beeline for the coffee.

"Alright, well I was thinking we might drop by the PokéMart first to get some supplies. I want to take a look at some TM's too," said Finn.

"No offense, Finn, but can you afford a TM right now?" asked Alan.

Mildly affronted, Finn said, "Hey! I made a good bit of money on our way here, and even more at the trainer fields. Plus, there's what I won off of Falkner the other day. I might be able to get something useful."

After pouring herself a cup, Lyra looked up. "I'm just looking forward to getting out of town to train for a while. Violet doesn't quite have the same charm it did before."

"What are your plans Lyra? Are you going to stick around with us for a while or what?" asked Orion.

The girl smirked. "You'd like that wouldn't you? No, I'll spend a few more days around here with you guys and then I'm going to head out for Ecruteak. I think I'll face Morty and get my second badge out of the way."

Unaware, a small frown curled at the corners of Finn's lips. He'd really grown to like the blue-haired girl over the last day. She was capable, seemed to hold her own well, and was just fun to be around.

Trying not to let his disappointment show in his voice, Finn said, "Aw, well you're always welcome with us, Lyra. I think we're planning on hitting up Ecruteak for our fourth badge, which could be a while from now."

"I'll give you my dex number. That way we can keep in touch," she said.

The four of them exited the Center, traversing the short distance across the street to the PokéMart. A few of the navy-blue ceramic tiles that comprised the building's roof appeared to be in need of repair after the battle. Inside, trainers rummaged through the rows of shelves, likely readying themselves for trips out onto the routes. Passing by, Finn noticed that the aisle dedicated to antidotes used in treating common pokémon poisons lay empty. Finn winced and rubbed his palm over the raised skin on his arm where he'd almost been impaled by a beedrill. The wound felt a bit like a sunburn. It still boggled Finn's mind that he wasn't poisoned.

"Miss, are you Ms. Lyra Saba of Cherrygrove city?" a man wearing a white lab coat waved at Lyra, and pulled her over.

"I am, yes. What can I do for you?" she replied, inquisitively.

"I'm Mark Watts, one of Professor Elm's aides. He asked for me to deliver this to you."

At this, the man retrieved a glass domed incubator housing a creamy-white egg, covered in odd red and blue hollowed out triangles.

"Oh! That's the egg I delivered," said Lyra, a look of remembrance on her face. "He wants me to have it?"

"Yes, ma'am. If you shoot him a message, he will give you the details of egg care and upkeep for you."

It appeared that the Professor had made it a habit to dole out research projects to trainers he thought were reliable.

Finn heard the man ask for an autograph for his daughter before he moseyed his way over to the glass-covered case containing the TM's. His eyes bulged upon seeing the price tag for techniques like hyper beam, earthquake, and fire blast. They cost more than what his stepfather would make in an entire year. While moves like that could take years to perfect through natural training, a trainer with the right funds or sponsorships could hasten their team's development with a single purchase. That option was not without its own pitfalls. If a young pokémon was taught a move like hyper beam too early in their development, they could harm themselves just attempting to use the move. Finn didn't think his team could handle anything as strong as that yet.

Prices for those high-level TM's got inflated over time because of the sheer popularity of competitive pokémon battles. Sponsored trainers didn't have to purchase the moves themselves. This meant that Silph Co, who produced most TM's, could charge exorbitant prices for the items, leaving the rookies a high barrier to entry for the profession. Finn would have to start winning tournaments to be able to afford anything like that.

He continued browsing further down the case until he saw a few items with a more reasonable number next to their description. Finn cringed when he saw that 'double team' cost just a tad more than what he had on him at the moment. Finn really wanted that technique for his speedy combusken, but Dixie would just have to wait a little while longer.

A few moments later, he found something that looked promising. Priced at only 5,000pb, the 'rock tomb' technique looked to be something Felix could make use of. The price tag, which would have sent Finn reeling just a month or two prior, was now marginally within his budget. While it would still cost around half of Finn's savings, he thought the purchase would be worth it.

Over the past few weeks, he'd been trying to teach his swinub how to use the move bulldoze with little success. Felix was having trouble manipulating the earth into the wave-like structure that the attack required. It wasn't similar enough to his already perfected mud bomb for there to be much overlap. But, if rock tomb could teach him how to manipulate stone at a distance, maybe the technique would give his pokémon a good idea of how to finish learning the difficult ground type move. Additionally, rock tomb might aid Felix in learning the concepts behind more advanced rock type attacks.

Finn finished his purchases, adding some rations and a potion to his order. He then indicated to the rest that he was finished if they were ready to head out.

Lyra purchased 'aerial ace' for her pidgeotto, and some new supplies for the egg that the Professor's aide delivered. Neither Alan or Orion found anything they needed at the store.

The group had decided to train out on Route 36, west of town. That way, they wouldn't have to travel across the battlefield from the day before on their way out, dredging up terrible memories. Hopefully, a calm training session out in nature would help them clear their minds.

"Hey Finn, you're experienced with egg hatching, right?" asked Lyra.

"Yep," said Finn. "What was all of that about back there?"

"I helped deliver an egg to Professor Elm a while back. I guess he wants me to care for the pokémon that hatches from it now. I'll have to call him. Any tips?"

"Well, right now you're in the easy part. Just monitor the egg through the incubator until it hatches. If it's anything like my baby pokémon you're in for a challenge," said Finn, consoling.

They found themselves walking up to the gate guards at Violet's western exit. The men and women stationed there were busy letting in various cargo vehicles and buggies that were bringing desperately needed supplies into the city, probably from Ecruteak city to their northwest. One buggy was pulled by twin tauros, their many whip-like tails swishing as they trudged past.

"G'morning, hand over your trainer IDs, and state your business in leavin' the city," said the one stationary guard. He was standing behind a pane of glass at a kiosk window to the left of the roadway. The man was older, and his graying mustache twitched as he spoke in a thick Olivine accent.

One by one they each handed over their IDs, stating that they were going out to train their pokémon on Route 36 for the next day or so, and receiving in turn a small electronic emergency beacon to attach to their clothing.

The guard gave Finn a once over. "If you're hurt, and go too far outside Violet, those beacons won't do you a lick of good. Got that son?" His accent caused 'you' to sound like 'yew.'

"Yes sir, thank you."

Then, it was Alan's turn. When he handed over his trainer ID, it took a bit longer for the guard to say something. The older man took a few moments to read some information on his computer.

He gave Alan a hard stare. "Son, it looks here like the League's put a tag on your ID. Were you supposed to be somewhere yesterday that you ain't been to? Says you're in dereliction of duty."

Flustered, Alan replied, "What? That can't be right! I went to the wall, and a Ranger told me to go to the Safety Shelter."

"That'll be up'ter the League officials to decide. Now, since this don't look so serious that they'll be puttin' you in jail over it, you can go right on over to Violet's League building to get it sorted. For now, you can't leave the city," he said.

It would have been hard for Finn _not_ to notice the gradual change in his friend's attitude ever since they'd been attacked out on Route 45 outside of Blackthorn, and even more so after the shiftry incident. Losing his first pokémon, and then almost dying really messed with the other teen's head. But really, that first night when he'd caught Felix, it had been Alan that had pulled him back home after he'd been bitten by that houndour. Alan had been the strong one, while Finn had been a mess. Had so much changed since then? Would Alan really lie to save face within the group?

Alan turned towards them, raising a placating hand. "Guys, I wasn't lying okay! I'm going to go get this all figured out. Come find me at the Pokémon Center when you get back."

The group watched in silence, as Alan turned away to find the Violet City League Office. Once he was out of sight, they slowly turned to exit the city. The feelings of doubt, disbelief, and defeat clung to the teens as they walked onwards. It appeared that the city was not yet done with them.

Lyra and her bayleef, Frond, were leading them to a training area off a secluded part of Route 36 that she'd found while she was training to face Falkner a couple of weeks prior. Orion and Finn trailed behind her slightly, a robust horsea and lithe combusken beside them.

"Dude, so I've been thinking, and there's something I wanted to talk to you about," said Orion, his face set more seriously than it normally was.

"Okay, what's up?" asked Finn, quirking an eyebrow upwards in curiosity.

"As your friend, I don't think I'd be doing you any favors by just ignoring what you did yesterday." Orion sighed, before continuing, "Look man, I get it. That pink-haired lady—Zeta?—really screwed us up back in Blackthorn, but you just went after her all on your own." Frustration was building in his brown-haired friend's voice. "What were you thinking man? Trying to be some hero with only two semi-functional one-Gym-badge pokémon with you? That was so fucking stupid."

Finn pulled back a bit, not expecting that. "Wow, well, I was thinking that maybe I'd figure out what they were up to? Maybe figure out where Ajax and Seymour were taken," said Finn, throwing Orion's stolen geodude in his face. "And I was careful. I wasn't seen. You guys had the pokédex, so I couldn't call for backup or anything. I wasn't about to do nothing."

Orion let out a breath he'd been holding. "Man, I just want to make sure you realize that if literally _anything_ had been different, you might've been killed. What if those other trainers had been in there with her? That crawdaunt would've destroyed Dixie and Felix in a heartbeat. Don't go chasing legendaries, Finn, that never ends well."

Finn had been trying to ignore those facts. In the heat of the moment, he'd entered that building with less thought than was probably prudent for a sane person. It was part of a set of rash decisions he'd made during the battle, starting with using Benedict against the swarm.

"Look man, sometimes I get a little reckless. I'll try and not get myself killed okay?" said Finn.

"Good. I only brought it up to make you think about it," said Orion, lighting punching Finn on his shoulder, the other teen's jovial smile indicating that his mood was back to normal.

Finn laughed. "You just focus on you, man. Pretty soon that monster of a horsea of yours won't keep me from beating your ass in battle." At this, Darya shot some bubbles from her snout, popping in the air surrounding Finn's face, stinging his cheeks.

* * *

A meadow of tall grass filled with wildflowers spread out before him against a backdrop of rolling tree-filled mountains. A gentle breeze whirled about, and the occasional hoppip could be seen twirling through the air, the leaves on top of their small heads acting as helicopter blades. Pidgey were chirping in the trees, but even this wonderful weather felt somewhat muted due to the lingering memories of the day before. Further down across the field, Finn could see Orion and Lyra starting their own training routines. They had chosen a secluded spot off Route 36, where hopefully they wouldn't be disturbed by challenges.

Finn had always thought he'd taken his training seriously. He woke early, coaching his team for hours in the mornings, and then battled other trainers for money in the afternoons. It just hadn't been enough when it mattered during the battle at the wall.

This had Finn reconsidering his training plan. How could he quickly reach a level where his team could come out unscathed from something like that? The answer he'd come up with was to either train _much_ more often, or potentially finding a high-level trainer to help out. Pokémon tended to grow faster when facing insurmountable odds, like fighting pokémon that were more powerful than they were.

Since high level trainers were not known to simply train beginner rookies for free, Finn decided he was going to start a three-a-day training schedule. Unless his friends had something specific in mind, mornings would be dedicated to calisthenics and attack power exercises, afternoons were for the training fields to make some money, and evenings would be for accuracy and move specialization.

Anxiously, he gazed down at Benedict's pokéball in his hand. It was time to see how bad the damage was. He nervously rolled the ball in a circle around the palm of his hand before dropping it to the ground. The small two-headed exeggcute materialized onto the ground.

Normally, whenever Benedict was outside of his pokéball, his exeggcute's emotions would glide comfortably across his mind. This time, things were different. It was as if someone was screaming in pain and betrayal, but the volume dial had been turned down to almost zero. It was odd feeling such intense emotions, but so subtly, like a feather's touch.

Finn leaned down. "Buddy, I know it hurts. A part of you is gone that will never come back, but we're going to get you better," said Finn, reaching out to pat one of Benedict's heads. As his hand neared, a sensation like two opposing magnets bumping into one another stopped his palm from moving forward.

In that moment, a part of Finn broke. What happened had stolen the trust and friendship that he'd nurtured with Benedict over the past few months, and Finn couldn't blame anyone but himself. He grimaced as he spoke, his words shakily tumbling out of his mouth. "Aw, please don't be like that, Benedict. I know that I put you in a tough position, but you can heal from this. We'll eventually be stronger than ever. We will get better."

He knew he was trying to convince himself as much as he was his pokémon. Even after healing at the Pokémon Center, what was left of his exeggcute appeared exhausted. Rusty green splotches bloomed underneath each of Benedict's four eyes, and the edges around where his egg-shell had previously cracked, looked wilted and soft. A chunk of light pink egg had been chipped away, exposing some of his pokémon's yellow nutty insides. Meanwhile, the unpleasant emotions that were roiling across Finn's mind never wavered.

He pushed his hand past the weak psychic repellant and gently brushed his hands against each of his pokémon's heads, trying to convey some form of comfort. Instead, his pokémon let out a distressed high-pitched humming noise that made Finn sharply retract his hands, a tightness forming in his chest as the guilt from whatever betrayal Benedict felt made itself known.

Gulping, Finn tried to keep his voice soothing. "Okay bud, let me spray you with your medicine. It should take away some of your pain. This is going to help you heal faster, Benny."

After applying the topical spray, the discomfort from his pokémon's psychic intrusion continued to burn at the back of Finn's mind until it became so much that Finn had to return him into his pokéball.

Finn could only imagine what Benedict was going through. Losing more than half of your intellect and half of your strength in one go would be devastating. All he could do was encourage him, and hope for the best. Maybe the Professor would know something to help.

For the rest of the afternoon Finn trained each of his pokémon one-on-one, albeit with a more somber air than usual.

He inserted the rock tomb TM into Felix's pokéball and downloaded the technique. When he released his swinub, the pokémon shrieked with delight, rubbing his head against Finn's shins, then rolled over exposing his furry stomach to the sky.

Bending down to give his pokémon a belly-rub, Finn noticed that Felix looked a bit different. Upon closer inspection, it became evident that the massive battle outside Violet had caused extensive changes to his starter. Pokémon physiology was amazing in that it could quickly compensate for a perceived lack of strength or speed against a more powerful foe, so long as the pokémon survived the encounter long enough for it to recover.

Felix, who was so small when he first caught him back in Blackthorn, was now nearing two feet in height and he'd put on a good amount of weight. The swinub's back had gained a distinctive arch, indicating to Finn that evolution was likely near. He honestly couldn't believe how fast Felix had grown; the changes noticeable from even just the day before.

"Look at you, Felix! You've gotten so big!" Finn gushed at pokémon, who was still squirming from his scratches.

Reeling it in, Finn grew more serious. "Alright Felix, we're going to get back normal training now, but just so you know, Benedict probably won't be joining us for a while," he said, trailing off.

Felix let out a mournful grunting noise. "Yeah, but we'll work through it, bud. He'll eventually be in fighting shape again."

His swinub nodded, rearing up on his hind legs for a moment before coming down, letting loose enough of his ground type energy into the dirt that Finn could feel the soil shift beneath his feet.

"Okay, just like you learned with protect, you now have the knowledge to use rock tomb. Do you feel any different Felix? For now, let's run through all of your techniques for practice, and then we'll focus on your new move."

Finn put all of his energy into the training session in an attempt to avoid thinking about Benedict's predicament. He and Felix practiced everything from tackle to his starter's still-unworkable icicle crash technique. Finn wanted him to get as much practice as he could with the powerful ice type move before evolving, where hopefully Felix would be able to use the move immediately. The ice that composed the swine pokémon's icicle crash was already much thicker and had more mass than it had prior to his match against Falkner. The excitable pokémon was performing better than Finn had ever seen him. Facing so many opponents at once had forced Felix to change, to get stronger. After using the move almost constantly the day before, Felix's protect was a shimmering impenetrable shield of power.

Finn grinned. The tree they had been using to aim bent low, with chunks of broken wood splintering up into the air, covered in mud and ice.

Next, Finn had Felix try his new TM move. The resulting rock tomb was lackluster at best. Like a drunk dugtrio, three small-sized stones slowly emerged from the dirt encircling a nearby sapling. Nothing that took that long to work would be effective in battle, but it was a start. Felix was using the instinctive knowledge conveyed to him by the TM to grasp the ability to move stone from a distance, rather than simply what was immediately around his body. Finn really hoped that gaining mastery of rock tomb would eventually allow for his pokémon to find success with bulldoze.

Dixie was next, and her development post-bug battle was equally as impressive as Felix's. She emerged from her pokéball and immediately started bumping her head up against Finn's side, seeking affection.

The combusken could now use her ember technique at twice the volume she could before. The flames were so intense, it caused Finn to consider the attack a borderline flamethrower. It appeared that similar to Felix and his protect technique, the protracted use of her ember attack the day before must have greatly increased her endurance. The implications behind this development gave Finn lots of ideas for different training methods. Maybe instead of focusing solely on physical endurance, he could begin training his pokémon to hold their moves for as long as they could manage. Or maybe he could conduct mock two-on-one battles with his team, forcing them to strain themselves to keep up.

While Dixie was practicing, he'd had to have Felix out of his ball, putting out multiple fires that caught in the meadow with his snow.

He brought out Larvitar last. When the rock type landed on the well-trod ground in front of him, Finn was amazed. Instead of eyes narrowed in suspicion or hatred, Larvitar was regarding Finn with rapt attention. The life-or-death struggle they had faced together must have been what was needed to get the rock lizard on his side.

Elated, he squatted in front of his pokémon. "Alright Larvitar, we're going to start training for real now okay. Are you up for it? We won't be caught off-guard like we were against those bugs ever again."

A glimmer of interest found its way into Larvitar's eye, and he curled the corner of his lips in a smirk, revealing a few sharp teeth before nodding once. Finn felt like laughing and breaking out into a smile, but instead, he kept his stern demeanor and began instructing his pokémon. He realized that any overexcitement could be interpreted as a sign of weakness by his pokémon, and potentially cause the dark oriented creature to lose whatever had caused this sudden change in behavior. _Finally_ , Larvitar was ready to get serious.

They started off with speed drills. While Larvitar's skin had almost fully hardened, Finn wanted to maintain their training to see if he could eek out any last bit of benefit from the regimen that Mr. Pokémon had recommended. The rock-ground type was easily keeping up with Finn, even surpassing him in a few of the sprints, which was pretty astonishing for such a small creature.

Larvitar then gave Finn a demonstration of his moves. The pokémon could tackle, bite, and use a pretty effective rock throw technique. When he used screech, Finn was forced to put his hands over his ears, and further away he saw Orion and Lyra get distracted by the startling noise.

"Okay, so we know what moves you can use. Let's go find a pokémon for you to train against."

Finn released Felix next to him for extra protection, and grabbed a repel from his pocket. Then, they ventured into the forest. He wasn't planning on going far enough away to get lost, but he did want Larvitar to get some more hands-on experience. Whatever pokémon they found would have the added benefit of being dinner for the three trainers later that evening.

It didn't take long for a sentret to skitter across their path. The furry brown monster had a thickly muscled striped tail, and a cream-colored circle covered most of its stomach, reminiscent of another _much_ more ferocious pokémon that roamed the forests of Johto. The creature was clinging to the bark of a large oak, and as we approached, its head turned around in surprise.

"Start out with a screech! Knock it out of that tree!"

Larvitar's jaw opened, and the resulting noise had the opposing sentret running away in terror and Finn covering his ears. He called out for Larvitar to chase after it, and to use bite. To his amazement, the rock lizard caught up with ease, and chomped down on the normal type's side, a visible black aura coating its sharp teeth.

"Good job, back off and use rock throw!"

With a nimble jump, Larvitar scampered backwards, repositioning himself further away. He manipulated the soil beneath him and an apricorn-sized stone appeared, which Larvitar then hurled at the sentret. It didn't stand a chance.

* * *

Fire reflected off the faces of three teenagers and their pokémon. They ended up camping in the meadow they'd found, deciding that sleeping in their tents out in the wilderness might be better than the cramped communal situation inside Violet.

They were all munching on a supper of sentret and pidgey mixed with some foraged vegetables that the group had found. To Finn's left, Larvitar sat, the bottom spikes of his tail embedded into the earth. His reward for a good day of training was getting to stay outside of his pokéball for longer than he would under normal circumstances. The fact that the pokémon on his team with the most future potential was finally acting like part of the group lifted a huge weight from Finn's shoulders. He might just be figuring this whole training thing out.

Finn let out a contented breath. "It was nice to just do something normal today. Something to take our minds off of everything. Larvitar made some great strides too," he said, daring to reach over and pat the temperamental pokémon at the base of his horn. "In fact, now that he's officially acting like a member of the team, I've come up with a nickname for him." At this, Larvitar looked up confused. "You didn't think everyone else on the team would have a name but you, did you? What do you think about Quake, bud?"

The newly minted Quake gave a nonchalant shrug of his tiny shoulders before resuming his long stare into the fire.

Orion chuckled. "Yeah, it was good. I'm not sure if you guys, like, noticed the same thing as me, but my team grew a _lot_ from yesterday's battle," said Orion, taking another bite from his roasted pidgey leg. Still chewing, he kept going. "—Darya and Tufts can hold their ranged attacks for so much longer now. Crazily enough, I think Tufts might evolve any day now, and I've only had the little dude for a week!"

Orion was speaking about his horsea and mareep. Finn had to agree. The all out war-like conditions had a serious positive effect on the strength of his team, so long as he didn't include Benedict's injuries.

"Me too," said Lyra, smiling. "Maddy actually did evolve today during training. I wasn't expecting it for at least another month, but somehow what we went through triggered something inside of her."

The two boys congratulated her on her flaaffy, before Finn said, "Yeah, my team's improved as well." His voice dropped. "-Except Benedict, he was worse than I expected. He's in a lot of pain."

When the other two trainers expressed condolences for his pokémon's injuries, Finn realized he wanted to change the subject. The wound was still too fresh. "Well, Orion, since Falkner was such a pushover, we all know that you'll be ready to beat him. What do you think we should do after that? Azalea right?"

"Well, there was something that Clair mentioned to me before she left," said Orion. "She has a good friend, Liza, who's a caretaker up in the Charicific valley north of here. She said that Liza would show us around if we went to visit her."

"Oh, wow man, that's awesome! You and Alan have talked about trying to find a charmander before, right? How far out of the way is it?"

Orion leaned forward on the overturned log he was sitting on. "Clair said it was a three to four day journey north of here into the mountains. So, depending on how long it takes to find a charmander, we could be back here in a week or so," said Orion, grinning. "With Liza showing us the ropes, I'm sure we'll be in and out in no time, and I'll have another dragon badass for my team!"

Lyra watched the other teen with interest. "Um, Orion, you _do_ know that charmander don't evolve into dragon type pokémon right? Charizard is classified as a fire-flying type pokémon."

Orion stuck out his tongue. "I'm not stupid Lyra," he said, pointing at her with the pidgey leg he was still eating. "But just look at charizard, they're dragons."

"They're not, though," replied Lyra, confused.

Finn watched their back and forth, content to let them rehash an old argument.

Finn wasn't sure he was going to make the trip up to the Charicific valley with Orion. He wanted to do some training on his own, and this detour that the other boy wanted to take was the perfect time to do that. He could win some extra cash at the training fields here in Violet too.

"Well, we need to get that second Gym out of the way in the next couple of months to give us some breathing room with the League. You only have five or so months left, right? When did you get your first pokémon again?"

"Yeah man, I caught Ajax around six months ago," said Orion. "To keep my League benefits I need to beat another Gym leader pretty soon."

"I still have another eight months," said Lyra. "But I don't plan to take that long. I want to get my fifth badge as soon as I can so I can be eligible for some of the higher paying jobs out there."

"Oh?" asked Finn. "What sorts of jobs do you think you'd like to do?"

"Well, besides tournaments and the like, I think I want to join research expeditions. I like the idea of traveling to remote locations, and finding things no other person has found before," said Lyra. She was speaking normally, but the subtle inflections in her voice underscored the excitement she felt at the prospect of adventure. Finn enjoyed seeing someone so passionate. It made him feel like his obsession was much more normal than society would have him believe.

* * *

By the time they got back into Violet the next morning, many of the tents had been deconstructed. The glass and debris that had littered the sidewalks and streets had vanished. Still, there were pokémon and people continuing to fix the deformities that the collateral damage from the attack had wrought. Large bird pokémon soared above, carrying lumber and equipment from one place to the next. Finn was curious to see how much had changed outside the city's eastern exit.

The Pokémon Center was much less crowded than it had been the past couple of days, and they were able to get their pokémon looked after relatively quickly. Alan had sent them a message via the computer at the Center asking for them to meet him at the training fields. That Alan was at the fields battling came as a relief to the group. It meant that his punishment couldn't have been too serious.

With so many trainers stuck inside the city for various reasons, the training fields were packed. After paying the entrance fee, they looked for their friend near the one badge trainer arena. There were lines extending from the trainer boxes on both sides of the field where people were waiting their turn to battle.

Inside the psychic barrier, a goldeen was shooting swaths of water from its lips, aiming for a hoothoot that was flying in circles around the arena's pool of water. The owl banked towards the water, where the elegant koi-like pokémon dove further underneath the surface. Apparently, this water type hadn't learned to float above ground yet, and was playing hard to get.

After noticing Alan was close to the front of the line, Finn, Orion, and Lyra found a spot to sit in the stands to watch his match. A few battles later, Alan's luxio dominated a one badge trainer's bellsprout in only a few moves, and after receiving his money, their friend walked over.

"Hi, guys," he said, looking uncomfortable.

"Nice win," said Finn, genially. "It must have gone well with the League if you're here battling, right?"

Alan coughed. "Yeah, they said that not all of the Rangers made it through the battle, and the one who had taken down my info was one of them. They didn't recover his data pad until later in the day yesterday."

Finn was happy for his friend. He hated that he'd doubted his story for a while. Not putting oneself on the front lines of a major skirmish where many trainers died was not something he should judge his friend for. Finn himself had not known what he was in for when he'd responded to the League's summons. If he had, it would've been much harder to do what he'd done.

It was disheartening how numb he'd become to hearing about yet another death. Finn was getting angry. Angry at whatever group that Zeta worked for. The pink-haired woman's group was responsible for the deaths of so many trainers and pokémon that they cared for. If they hadn't messed with the cocoon pokémon, none of this would've happened. Benedict would be okay right now.

"I, for one, am glad things are getting back to normal," said Finn, patting Alan on the shoulder. "What do you want to do while we're waiting on this snorlax over here." Finn jabbed his thumb over at Orion.

Alan laughed. "We haven't collected data for Professor Elm and Mr. Pokémon in a while, have we?" he said. "Let's get that done, and make some cash here, and we'll just have to hope that Orion will catch up to us one day."

"Ahh, come on guys, it's not my fault we have to wait on Falkner," said Orion, who then remembered something. "Didn't you say you always wanted a charmander?"

Things devolved into a mad conversation about how awesome charizard were, causing Finn to tune them out.

Later, Finn was following the others towards the exit when he spotted someone vaguely familiar. He was slouched over sitting in the arena stands near the zero badge arena, with his face in his hands. He didn't know exactly who it was, but Finn could have sworn that he'd seen him before.

Eyeing the teen's dirty clothes, he made the connection. It was the trainer from the prior morning who had caught the male combee. The scene was rather pitiful, and Finn was reminded of how much he'd struggled to get out of Blackthorn just months before.

"Hey! What's got you so down?" asked Finn, trying to sound encouraging.

"Just leave me alone, man. I already gave you guys all of my money. What more do you want?" he asked, a gravely tone to his voice indicating how upset he was. Although, there was something in his hazel eyes, a sort of defiance that spoke to how this setback would not be the end of him.

Based on his reaction, it seemed that the other boy had his share of confrontation for the day. Finn could only imagine how poorly the other trainer's battles must have gone with only a male combee to fight for him. Something about the kid's still-defiant demeanor in the face of defeat made Finn want to help him.

"Look, I don't know you, but I was sitting at the Pokémon Center when you registered your combee yesterday. If you're here at the training fields, I'm assuming that you didn't take Nurse Joy's advice?" asked Finn. "Do you need some help?"

"What? Oh yeah. She was right though. Combee can't battle. I just lost literally everything I had testing him out," he said, eyes downcast. "What do you mean help? I'm just going to have to try and sell Combee or trade him to a honey manufacturer or something."

Finn became a touch uncomfortable. He could remember his early days. The desperation to make a name for himself outside of Blackthorn's walls. He recognized that same spirit in this trainer. The other teen could probably recoup the cost of the pokéball if he got lucky, but nobody really bought male combee. Vespiquen were the only members of that species that were worth training.

Finn made up his mind.

"Here, let me take you out to Route 31 so you can catch something worthwhile."

"What?" he asked, shocked. "Why would you do that? I don't need your charity!"

"It's not charity, dude. Someone once told me that in this world there are many things that'll get you down. They taught me that the pokémon training community is tight knit, and that we help our own. Right now, you remind me of myself from four months ago. Let me help," said Finn. "It's not a problem."

"C'mon, man. You look my age. How many badges do you have?" he said, skeptical.

Finn opened one side of his jacket revealing Falkner's badge. "Just the one right now, but I've been out on the routes for over three months. I have it on good authority that I'd be able to take on a Gym leader for my third badge right about now."

Even though there was still a sliver of distrust shining in the teen's eye, a slow smile began to make itself known on his face, before disappearing. "But I don't have any money to pay you? I don't have any more pokéballs—"

"Don't worry about it. Just remember, when you get strong enough to travel around and win badges, find someone who needs your help, and give them a hand," said Finn. He was kind of proud of himself at how he was handling this. Helping out someone was kind of giving him a rush. Finn and his team were powerful enough that they could potentially change someone's life. "Come on man, let's catch you a real starter."

Since they were going to Route 31, that meant that they had to pass through the eastern gate of the city. He'd let his friends know he was leaving, and then they set out. It was amazing how much cleanup had occurred in the last forty-eight hours. All of the tents for the wounded and sick had been cleared away. The burnt bodies of the fallen bug pokémon were nothing more than a series of dark stains lingering on the cobbles.

"How'd you end up catching that combee anyway?" asked Finn.

"Heh, I knew I couldn't afford a proper starter, and only trainers are allowed outside of the wall, so I took the Code Red as my chance. I hid in a dumpster near the wall where everyone was getting ready, and waited until the battle made it into the city. Combee fell right out of the sky in front of me."

They walked for around twenty minutes onto the route before heading north into the forest. Finn showed Cameron, who had introduced himself on their way out, how to use repels and the beginnings of wilderness survival. He'd let Dixie out of her ball for protection while on the route, the combusken causing Cameron to stare wide-eyed in amazement.

"Look here," said Finn, pointing at a small shrub whose branches had been torn in places. "Can you tell me why this is something you should look out for?"

Cameron scrutinized the bush for a few moments, before shaking his head in the negative. "It's just a plant, why's it so special?"

"Look at where the branches are split apart. See how the leaves on the broken branches are still green? This shows that a pokémon passed through relatively recently. This is important, because whatever it was, was probably strong enough to do this without noticing, meaning that we want to avoid it," said Finn, who then reached down and pulled something off the branch. A clump of thick brown fur came off onto Finn's fingers. "This looks like ursaring fur. You do know what an ursaring is right?"

Cameron paled, and began swiveling his head around looking into the trees.

"It probably passed by relatively recently, so let's head this way okay?" said Finn.

They kept going, Finn occasionally pointing out edible plants, or instructing Cameron on how to spot where a spinarak might be hiding in its webs. Over the course of an hour, the two trainers had passed up the opportunity to catch many pokémon. Starters like sentret, rattata, or bidoof were fine, but pokémon like that had a low ceiling for potential. If he was going to set Cameron up for success, he was going to do it properly.

"Why haven't we caught anything yet? That sentret looked really strong," asked Cameron, as they pulled the larger than average squirrel-like pokémon into a bush to hide it while the creature recovered.

"Do you want a partner that will last your entire journey, or fodder for unsuccessful trainers?" Finn turned to the other trainer. "Look, sentret and rattata are fine. They grow quickly, but their potential caps out fast. Do you want a starter that will grow with you throughout your journey, or a starter that might not be able to hack it in higher tiered Gym battles?"

"What do you know about higher tiered Gyms, Finn? You're a one badge trainer!"

Finn remained calm. "Cameron, I'll just assume that you've watched some Gym matches before on TV, right? Think back. Have you ever seen a raticate or furret in an eighth tier Gym battle?"

Finn was speaking of the evolved forms of rattata and sentret, which were the two most common pokémon in Johto.

The teen thought for a moment, and then spoke slowly, "No, I haven't. So, you really think that I could make it that far?"

Finn gave him a hard look. "It'll only be possible if _you_ believe it, Cameron. You decide your own fate. Study hard. Train harder. That's the only way you'll break through the medley of mediocrity that surrounds us. There's a reason that normal people look down on us trainers. Look at all of the zero badgers still in Violet, trying to gain their first badge against Falkner. They've clogged up the city for over a month trying to defeat the easiest of the Gym leaders, and yet, they're still here. If you want more for yourself, you have to actually convice yourself that you can do it."

Cameron eagerly nodded his head. "I can, I'll do it Finn."

"That's what I want to hear. Now, let's go find you a pokémon," replied Finn.

They made it to a lake, where a colony of poliwag scattered upon seeing the two trainers and the combusken, splashing from their perches along the bank into the water disturbing the lily pads and weeds. The commotion had one of the bright-green lily pads _moving_ towards the shoreline. With a loud 'ribbit' sound, a lotad hopped up onto the ground in front of them, eyes locking with Dixie's in challenge.

Lotad were pokémon native to Hoenn that had naturalized in this part of Johto. They were grass-water types that grew a large lily pad on top of their amphibious bodies.

"Cameron, this is what you're looking for. You want a pokémon with a fighting spirit!" said Finn, turning to his pokémon. "Dixie, peck and then double kick!"

Shooting forward, the fire-fighting type made short work of the lotad, who made a valiant effort to dodge Dixie's first attack. His pokémon narrowly avoided a water gun that whoshed past her face, before knocking the lotad out with a well placed kick.

Priming one of his spare pokéballs, Finn captured the creature and handed the ball over to the newly minted trainer. The other boy was staring down at the orb in his hand with reverence.

Finn congratulated Dixie on a job well done with a treat and some head scratches, before turning back to Cameron.

"This is a responsibility that you'll need to take seriously. For the first few days, just try and gain its trust with food and affection while you research the lotad line. I don't think lotad are typically known to be dangerous starters, so you shouldn't have too much trouble," said Finn, who was really getting into his 'teacher' role. "Once you get its basic commands down, you can start training against wild pokémon and maybe a trainer or two. It's better to take longer and do it right then having a half-ready pokémon protecting you while out on the routes. Trust me, I know."

Cameron had a nervous look about him, the moment becoming real to him. "What if it doesn't like me, Finn? How long do you think it'll take before I can face Falkner?"

"Well, that could happen, but I'd give it some time before trying to trade it away though. One of my pokémon finally came 'round after a month of trying to kill me every time he was outside his pokéball," said Finn, thinking fondly of his and Quake's most recent training session. "How long will it take? To be honest, I'm not sure. If you're able to do well at the training fields and make enough money to catch another pokémon you could face Falkner in a month or so. I wouldn't suggest going with just your lotad though, it's part grass type, which is weak to Falkner's fliers."

"But that's so long from now," he said, glancing down. "After I caught Combee, I told my parents I'd be out of the house in the next week or so."

Finn could have guessed based on the other teen's attire and attitude that he wasn't becoming a trainer solely out of his love for pokémon, but that last comment really drove that point home.

He had already been thinking about staying in Violet to train while Orion and Alan went to catch their fire types up north. He'd wanted to start his three-a-day plan, but maybe he could spare a bit of his time on this.

"Look, man—trainers that start out too early tend to die at a pretty good clip. Just go look up League statistics for trainers of less than six months. There's something like a twenty percent death rate. It's the reason politicians want to raise the starting pokémon age."

"What?! It's that high?" he said, looking between the pokéball in his hands and Finn in shock.

"I'll tell you what, I'll give you my pokédex number. Spend the next few days figuring out your new pokémon and give me a call from the Pokémon Center once you've got a handle on things. I'll give you some pointers."

* * *

AN: Please let me know what you think! I love reviews/follows/favorites! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/concerns/grammar issues/etc.

**Finn:**  
Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
Quake – Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken

**Orion:**  
Darya - Horsea  
? - Magikarp  
Drake - Grovyle  
Tufts - Mareep

**Alan:**  
? - Phanpy  
? - Shroomish  
? - Luxio

**Lyra:**  
Frond - Bayleef  
Whisper - Pidgeotto  
Maddy - Flaffy  
Bubble - Froakie  
Egg - ?


	12. Trade & Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I am sorry for the long wait, but like most of the world, I've had a trying 2020. Between the pandemic, going through a career change, and a surprise minor surgery, I've had a lot on my plate and that's made writing a low priority. Thankfully, most of that is resolving now, and I hope to be able to resume writing at a similar pace to what I was previously.
> 
> Some reviewers have expressed that the pacing is slowing down, which I agree with, and I'm trying to figure out how to speed it up. (Earlier, people said that the pacing was too fast, so it's hard to fit expectations). This chapter isn't action packed, but it sets up for some fun things to come.
> 
> This chapter hasn't been reviewed by a beta, so if you see any grammar/spelling stuff please don't hesitate to PM me.
> 
> Since it's been so long, here's a small recap:
> 
> Finn and company battled a swarm of bug type pokémon outside Violet, who were enacting retribution against the city because trainers were capturing/killing too many bug types. Benedict (Finn's exeggcute) was badly hurt, and because of some of Finn's actions during the battle, his larvitar (now named Quake) respects him (his other pokémon are Felix the swinub and Dixie the combusken). Finn found the base of the organization who'd been capturing all of the bugs (the same woman who attacked his group on Route 45 at the beginning was involved), and they were dissecting/studying them. The aftermath was bad. Many trainers didn't make it, and the city took some time to recover. Finn told the Gym leaders Clair, Bugsy, and Falkner about the base. Later, Finn took sympathy for a young trainer who reminded him of himself, and helped him capture a lotad.

**Chapter 12: Trade & Secrets**

The following week flew by. Finn implemented his three-a-day training program with his team to great effect. He could easily see the incremental improvement in his pokémons' endurance and in the quality of their attacks. Only Benedict was struggling. While his exeggcute was still in a lot of pain, each day that the grass type soaked up the nitrogen fertilizer medicine and some sun, the turmoil in his partner's mind lessened. Finn hoped he'd be able to start working with Benedict again in the coming week, which was something he counted as a win. The fact that the exeggcute was even alive was a miracle.

Despite the progress being made, the early mornings and constant training were beginning to take their toll. Finn was constantly exhausted and his muscles ached. His pokémon were feeling the strain as well. They were all in varying states of fatigue, but even though Finn could tell they were all tired, he noticed how their amazingly adaptable bodies enabled them to continue on. Pokémon were truly amazing creatures.

At one point, in a fit of frustration Dixie had stolen a sitrus berry that Quake found, and the two entered a state of feud, with his larvitar's vindictive streak coming out in full force. In response, Dixie didn't listen to Finn for an entire day because she thought he'd taken Quake's side.

Even with tensions growing high within his team, Finn decided that the extra practice was worth it. He was a very goal-oriented person, and seeing things like Dixie holding her ember attack for almost twenty seconds, or Felix forming an icicle crash that might actually harm an opponent made the hard work feel immensely rewarding.

One afternoon, he'd spent some time coaching Cameron with the teen's newly acquired lotad. The pokémon's docile nature contrasted with a mischievous personality and a gluttony for oran berries. The lotad bonded with the younger trainer after many bubble attacks to his face, which made Cameron excited to begin teaching his new partner moves and begin battling.

Honestly, Finn could relate. He knew what it was like to have your battle prowess be the only thing separating you from your freedom. Finn let Cameron know that he had an idea about what to do about his parents kicking him out, but that the other teen would need to hold out throughout the week.

Lyra departed for Ecruteak sometime mid-week to little fanfare. The blue haired trainer's absence left Finn feeling somewhat dejected. He had grown to like Lyra over the past couple of weeks. Apart from his mother, Finn wasn't really used to missing people. It seemed that it was just the way of pokémon trainers to have people swoop in and out of your life, all the while building strong bonds through shared dangerous experiences. Still, Finn thought he'd gotten to know Lyra exceptionally quickly, and he was looking forward to seeing her again.

Orion defeated Falkner with ease because his mareep had evolved into a flaffy during his training that week. With both of his companions having finally won their first badges, it was time for them to move on to the next challenge. For Alan and Orion, that meant traveling to the Charicific valley to capture a charmander. The elusive and hard to train fire-lizards that were prized for their prowess in battle, and for being one of the famous Professor Oak's scholarship prizes in Kanto.

Alan spent the week making money at the training fields and researching the Charicific valley. Finn's studious friend wanted to make sure he knew every threat that they might face on the journey. From what he'd told Finn, the most dangerous thing that they would face might come from the charizard line themselves. He hoped that with Clair's friend Liza helping them out, things wouldn't get too out of hand.

Finn had decided to remain behind and focus on his training. He was tired of not being prepared for the situations that he kept finding himself in. The battle for Violet had been _way_ over their heads. Additionally, he was hoping to find a pokémon that would complement his team via the Pokémon Center's trading kiosk.

Finally, after an intense week of training and goodbyes, the morning that his two friends planned to leave Violet had arrived.

* * *

Finn was waiting for his two friends at one of the Pokémon Center's outdoor café areas while nursing a strong cup of coffee and perusing the local newspaper. They were scheduled to have a video-call with the Professor for a check-up on their Hoenn pokémon. Finn had just finished his early morning practice with his team, and on the floor next to him lay Felix, whose snotty nose was currently enamored with the sole of his left boot.

The heat from his coffee cup kept his hands warm in the chilly morning air. Even in the middle of summer, the altitude of the mountains surrounding Violet kept the nights cool. It triggered Finn's memories of summers in Blackthorn.

He turned the page of his newspaper. Splayed in a huge font across the top read ' _Wave of Chronic Migraines Hit's Azalea_.' Apparently, in the past few weeks dozens of people in Azalea had become bedridden from chronic headaches and experts were unsure of the cause. Few of the patients had shown symptoms of illness prior, and there were even a few people who were so affected that they were rendered comatose.

His mind immediately went back to what Zeta had said about another operation that was set to happen in the sleepy woodland town. Finn really hoped that he was wrong. But he'd given Clair and the other Gym leaders all of the evidence from the warehouse, and even told them about Azalea. If Bugsy couldn't do anything about it, then Finn wasn't sure what he else could do. More than anything, this development made him question whether the group should look for their second badge elsewhere.

Finn was lost in his own thoughts for a few more moments before he noticed the gangly blonde Alan heading his way. His friend was wiping the sleep from his eyes while walking beside Orion and his floating horsea, Darya.

* * *

"Hello, Professor Elm? You there?" asked Finn, jostling with Alan for a better position in front of the Pokémon Center's video-call device. The screen's display showed a cluttered desk in what appeared to be the Professor's hatchery.

Suddenly, the bespectacled Professor skidded into view with a pink spherical pokémon clinging to his shoulder. The diminutive creature's feet swayed back and forth as the Professor attempted to dislodge it.

"Boys! It's wonderful to see you. I'll be back in a jiff! I don't think this little guy is ready for play-time to be over," he said, carefully prying at what Finn thought might be a pre-evolution of the jigglypuff line.

Moments later, the Professor was back. "So kids, how are things? Are you holding up alright after the attack?"

"We're getting there Professor. The past week has been an eye opening experience for us all," said Finn.

The older man nodded his head gravely before saying, "It's always sad when the young have to go through an experience like that." He trailed off before brightening. "Anyway, onto less depressing topics. Much congratulations on your Gym victory Orion. I'm sure it's a weight off all three of your shoulders to have the first one down. Only one more and you will have fulfilled your League obligations!"

"Thanks Professor! Yeah, we're excited and ready to get that out of the way. Right now we're looking at Azalea for our next badge," said Orion, which made Finn think back to the newspaper he'd just been reading.

"Good, good. Bug pokémon may gain strength quickly, but outside of a few specific species, they are a frail type. You three should have no trouble with Bugsy's two-badge team. Anyways, back onto topic. Have you discovered anything new with our project?"

Alan rifled through his pack, taking out a worn spiral ring notebook. "Yes, actually, we've identified a couple of things that seem pretty exciting. I've been compiling the numbers from our weekly tests." His eyes scanned back and forth over a page. "First of all, it appears that post-evolution, both Dixie and Drake's abilities have not changed." Alan went on, listing off complicated sets of data based on the combusken and grovyle's speed relative to how their abilities worked.

"Yes, yes, that is somewhat less substantial than what we imagined, though. It appears that they have retained the same ability from their previous forms. I was hoping that the changes upon evolution might've been a smidgen more drastic, but it is what it is. Do you have anything else for me?"

Finn saw a spark of true passion in Alan's eyes as he spoke on the research. "This time it's Shroomish. Remember how we discussed how paralysis inducing techniques increase his speed significantly? Well, I've discovered that it's not so limited in scope! If a fire wielding pokémon uses an attack that would otherwise leave a burn, or a poison type envenomates Shroomish, both of those actions cause a similarly large increase in speed."

At this, the Professor reciprocated Alan's energetic tone of voice. "Oh my! So, perhaps Shroomish's ability extends to all known status conditions. How fascinating! You know, the teddiursa line has been known to occasionally have similar abilities." The Professor became contemplative for a moment. "Has Shroomish ever been frozen before?"

The two continued on for a while before Finn had a chance to speak with the Professor about what he was really interested in.

"Sir, so you might have heard, but Benedict, my exeggcute, got really hurt during the bug attack last week," said Finn, keeping his voice even. "I was wondering if you have any advice or experience with exeggcute when they lose some of their pseudobulbs. All week, I've been able to feel how much pain he's in. It's slowly getting better, but—" Finn trailed off, hoping that the older scientist might have an idea of what he should do.

The Professor's expression darkened, and Finn felt a bit bad for bringing up the battle again during what had just been such a lively intellectual discussion.

"Well Finn, as you know I'm a specialist in evolution, and pokémon breeding. I don't really delve into the finer aspects of pokémon healing, much less such a species specific topic. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I have any answers for you that the nurses at the Pokémon Center couldn't provide."

At the mention of evolution, Finn remembered what the nurse had said regarding Benedict's potential to evolve with just four heads. He questioned the Professor further on that topic.

Professor Elm perked up. "Oh, that's quite the idea! I think I remember reading a case study on the topic back in undergrad. I'd advise you that if you do go that route, make sure that the two most recently formed heads are conscious and have at least the beginnings of personality. That's when you'll know that they are truly ready."

The discussion continued with Finn bringing up that Quake, his newly christened larvitar, was beginning to respect and listen to him.

"Oho! That must have been exciting for you," he said, his animated movements almost knocking over a beverage he had on his table.

The conversation continued with pleasantries for a while, and with the Professor wishing Alan and Orion luck in capturing a charmander.

"Look boys, I have to go now. I have an important League meeting to get to. Let me tell you though, that I am glad that Mr. Pokémon and I took a chance on you three. Thank you for your hard work, it's paying off! Bye, now!"

* * *

"Whelp, is this it fellas?" said Orion. Finn's two friends needed to leave if they were to make good time to meet Liza.

"It's going to be weird without you guys, but I have _some_ faith that you have a chance of surviving the wilderness without me," said Finn, chuckling. "You two need to try and get along, okay?"

Scoffing, Alan said, "As if we would have been in any danger at all without Finn's penchant for finding trouble. We'll be fine." That was more confidence than Finn had seen from his friend in a long time. He hoped that meant that he was learning to cope with the trauma he'd been though.

"Seriously guys, be careful. And take care of my pokédex okay?" said Finn, trying to add a bit of levity to the situation.

Alan grinned, "We will, and we'll keep you updated on where we're at too—as long as the 'dex has service."

Alan was speaking about the Pokémon Center's telecommunications hub, where trainers could exchange electronic messaging. Trainers could send messages from their pokédex's or phones. It was the same device that the three of them used to speak with Professor Elm.

"Don't pull any crazy stunts while we're gone," said Orion, only half-joking.

"I'll try. See you in a week or two, okay?" Finn gave them both a man-hug and a hand slap, and watched them disappear in the crowd.

He let out a breath he'd been holding. Finn realized that this would be the first time in months that he was on his own. Some small part of him was happy to be able to concentrate solely on his own pursuits. He felt truly alive when he was on his own with his team, training. But there was another part of him that would miss the constant banter of his two companions, and the safety that having a group provided.

* * *

Later that day, Finn ventured back to the Pokémon Center to take a peek at their trading services. As much as Finn thought that he needed to concentrate fully on the rest of his team's development and Benedict's recovery, he was realizing that having a full team of six pokémon as soon as possible would make him stronger that much faster. Certain species of pokémon, like Quake, took a _long_ time to evolve. The earlier he collected his full team, the better prepared they would be for what was to come. Plus, with Benedict sidelined for the foreseeable future, and Quake being kept on the down-low most of the time, he really only had two pokémon that he could use indiscriminately.

Finn strolled into the Pokémon Center's computer terminal to get some work done. Sitting down at the kiosk, he searched through the options before finding the 'Trainer's Trading Guild' icon and clicked. From there, Finn found 'Water Types' and initiated a search for 'Mareanie.'

In theory, Olivine and Cianwood's invasive species problems should have made the water-poison type pokémon relatively common on the Trading System. At first, what he found was disconcerting.

' _My mareanie is very tame and easy to get along with! LF: the cutest eevee you can find!_ '

' _This mareanie has a ferocious appetite for battle, only looking for a dratini in return!'_

Finn let out a derisive huff, and put his head in his hands. As if anyone would trade a dratini or eevee for a mareanie. Those trainers may as well have been asking to win the lottery. So far, most of the trainers online were looking for pokémon whose relative trade value was not in line with what they were offering.

After a bit more scrolling, he stopped at a listing.

' _My mareanie has fascinating regenerative abilities, even for its species. LF: a smeargle to aid me with my art_ '

That was interesting. Smeargle were simian pokémon with tails that acted as paint brushes. They were uncommon and were coveted by artists around the world. The basis for the color of the pigment their tails released was genetic and varied greatly within the species. The listing intrigued Finn, not only because of the description of the mareanie's ability, but because a set of ruins outside Violet was one of the only places in the world that smeargle could be found in any abundance.

Quickly, he sent the other trainer a message. ' _Interested in your mareanie. In Violet, and willing to go find you a smeargle this week. Can you hold the trade for a week or two?'_

Five minutes went by before he received a reply, ' _Sure, if you have options, I'd love a smeargle that was partial to yellow paint :-)._ '

Finn sent back, ' _I'll keep an eye out, thanks._ '

On a whim, Finn typed into the search function, 'Honedge.' This time, the swirling page loading icon took a little longer to finish its search.

' _No results found'_

He tried, 'Rookidee,' and was once again rewarded with no results. 'Pawniard' came back with one trade offered, but the trainer was looking for a lapras in return.

Lapras, which ferried sailors of old across the world's oceans, were nearing extinction until a newly discovered colony was found in the Seafoam islands a few years back. This has allowed conservationists a chance to rekindle the dying species. Lapras were now on the rebound, but still incredibly hard to find on the battling circuit.

As for the steel types Finn had searched for, not many Galarian, Unovan, or Kalosian pokémon had made their way to Johto quite yet since the other regions were so far away. The online system didn't have connectivity throughout all of the regions of the world. If it did, Johtan Customs officials would have to be posted at every trading terminal, imposing a multi-week quarantine of non-native species to be sure that they weren't bringing in foreign diseases or pests.

Even though Finn wanted a steel type on his team to combat the ever popular fairy type pokémon and to bolster his team's defense, he was realizing that it might take a while. In Johto, there were steelix, magenzone, forrestress, skarmory, scizor, and a few others that were native to other regions and had naturalized in the country. Pretty much any of those would be amazing, but each of their own difficulties that made them hard to obtain.

Steelix and its unevolved form onix were massive, and required the prospective trainer to already have an impressive team to be able to control their sheer bulk. Skarmory needed to be tamed from birth for a trainer to have a shot, and finding a hatchling in the mountains near Finn's hometown was exceptionally dangerous. Scizor and scyther were speedy pack hunters that could tear a young trainer to bits in the wild. The others didn't really appeal to him, and while the magnemite line was fairly strong, he wasn't sure he wanted to train one. Something about the mechanical quality of that pokémon species weirded him out. Finn's sulked for a moment as he realized a steel type may be out of his reach, for now.

Finn hadn't really expected the trading service to be quite so full of unrealistic expectations, but after some thought, it made sense. If someone caught a rare pokémon worthy of training, they usually were going to train it themselves. Otherwise, they might try a high-dollar auction house to make some serious money, or go through personal connections. The Pokémon Center's trading utility was more for trainers without the means to use a more effective method of trading. He would have to try one of the auction houses at some point.

Deciding not to waste any more time, he went to purchase gear for an extended stay on the routes. It would be pretty cool to see the Ruins of Alph in person. He really hoped that smeargle wouldn't be ridiculously hard to find.

Realizing that this was a perfect opportunity for his new friend, he sent Cameron a message, letting him know that he'd be leaving on a training trip the next morning, and asking if he wanted to join him. This would give Cameron time away from his family, and he wouldn't need to use up with three day allotment at the Pokémon Center when they forced him out. So far, Finn was really enjoying the mentor-mentee relationship that they shared.

* * *

It took them three days to reach the outskirts of the ruins.

A campfire crackled merrily before three trainers, the red and yellow flames were charring the bubbling remains of a pidgey that had been their dinner. Finn, Cameron, and an older gentleman who they'd met earlier on the road sat idly sipping on some hot tea and munching on what was left of their dinners.

They were just outside the Ruins of Alph, camping on an overlook that let them take in the splendor of the ancient city in the moonlight. Each of them had a pokémon companion out for company and protection.

Finn had Felix snoring softly beside him, his thick brown fur rising and falling with his breathing. The large swinub was _clearly_ on high-alert and watching out for predators. Cameron's lotad was out, and the older gentleman, who had asked them to call him Jonah, was quietly petting a raichu at his side. The electric rodent's long lightning bolt shaped tail swayed back in forth in contentment.

Jonah was an odd sort. The graying older man sat still, bedecked in leather traveling clothes staring off into the distance as if in deep thought. Three pokéballs of strange make rested at this hip. They looked like they were hand-carved and lacquered in different colors.

They'd met on Route 32 while he and Cameron were training. He'd told them that he was planning on exploring the ruins for a while, so they had decided to join up for safety while traveling the routes.

It was still weird for Finn to travel without Alan and Orion. He kept expecting the prospective dragon tamer to show up, proudly describing to him how his magikarp followed three of his commands during a training session instead of the usual zero, or how Alan would spend twenty minutes every afternoon trying to elicit a response from his mushroom-pokémon's ability.

"So what have you thought about your first training trip out on the routes, Cameron?" asked Finn, his fingers softly scratching behind Felix's ears below him. "Are you feeling any better about your chances of making it as a trainer?"

"There's just so much out here. But sure, I'm feeling better," said Cameron, waving his hand around at the trees surrounding their camp. "Watching the world on the television isn't the same as being a part of it. I know that most people eventually become low-level non-League trainers at the very least so they can leave city walls, but after spending my whole life in Violet, it's amazing being this far from the city."

Finn was happy that Cameron was having a more typical first-time experience overnighting out on the routes than he'd had. "I know the feeling, man. Speaking of League trainers, Jonah did you ever take on the Gym circuit?"

"Oh, many years ago. I only ever acquired four badges though. The fifth badge milestone is a true test," a wan smile formed on the older gentleman's face. "My real passion was archeology though, and four badges with a little schooling was more than enough for me to pursue that."

Finn's eyes roamed over the distant clay and stone structures that comprised the Ruins of Alph. Some of the buildings were holding up well despite their ancient origins, while others were crumbling with the surrounding vegetation doing its best to reclaim the land. The ancient city was shrouded in mystery. Archeologists were known to go missing in some of the deeper, rarely explored caverns.

"There's still great power in this place," Jonah said softly, letting his gaze linger on the shadow-laden ruins nearby.

 _'That was kinda ominous_ ,' thought Finn to himself.

Cameron glanced up, and then nodded knowingly. "We know that. The pokémon are really dangerous out here."

The truth was that they hadn't really ran into anything all that dangerous yet. Finn's training on the road had been productive, even if he had to sneak off in order to give his larvitar some one-on-one attention. It was only Cameron's inexperience that made him think that the wild pokémon they'd faced thus far were anything out of the ordinary.

Jonah sent Cameron a piteous look, as if the younger teen was mentally troubled. "That is but a simple description of what I mean, Cameron. There are things here more dangerous and more far-reaching than the simple creatures we encounter around this ruin."

"Like what?" asked Finn, suddenly curious. It had been a refreshing change that his team was able to easily defeat the pokémon they'd encountered so far. There were lots of bug and grass types around, which Dixie had made quick work of. The random mareep and hoothoot were dispatched by Felix's ground and ice type attacks respectively.

He'd even taken to coaching Cameron through many of their wild encounters so the up-and-coming trainer would be able to handle himself out on the routes sooner rather than later. Even though one of his pokémon had needed to intervene on more than one occasion, Finn had been pleasantly surprised with how quickly Cameron's lotad was adapting to battle.

Earlier, Jonah had seemed like a normal adventurer out on the routes, but as they closed in on the Ruins of Alph, the man had become more subdued and contemplative.

"Have you never experienced it? Seen creatures whose powers defy our contemporary knowledge—seen people who defy the bounds of human ability? This place—" Jonah pointed down the hill at the ruins, and scrunched his two bristly gray brows. "—is built as a shrine to those beings that can alter reality itself."

Watching the older man speak, Finn was beginning to wonder if they had invited a nut job to travel with them, but even as the idea crossed his mind, he paused. Finn thought back to Falkner's insane aerial acrobatics during the battle for Violet, the seemingly random feeling of _otherness_ he'd felt around certain people, and all of the stories he'd heard about people gaining pokémon-like abilities. He even thought back to his own uncanny resistance that allowed him to thwart the nuzleaf's swagger attack, while all of the other people in the clearing that day had fallen completely under the dark-grass type's sway.

"I've heard of that, of course, and even seen some things that cause me to question. But how would a person even gain those abilities, though? And what does it have to do with the Ruins of Alph?" asked Finn.

Jonah stared deeply into the flames of their campfire before responding, "Nobody is really quite sure Finn, otherwise the knowledge would be everywhere. But, I'd bet that you've heard of them, no? The legendary pokémon of myth and legend, that can mold the world to their will and change the very fabric of our being. Some say—like the Church of Arceus—that the legendary pokémon put pieces of themselves into a rare few humans, granting them their abilities. Others say it's inborn into humanity, or that some tragic event triggers it in people. More still believe that it's a trait of great trainers to take on aspects of their pokémon companions. That this happens at all—it's the League's best and worst kept secret," Jonah put his hands into his lap and let out a breath. "I can't be certain of this, but the appearance of legendary pokémon and people with abilities are rare, but not so rare that they should be reduced to mere rumors in most human strongholds. I believe it takes no small part of the League's forces to keep this information in the realm of superstition. I have reason to believe that at least some of those secrets are held within the Ruins of Alph, and it's why I'm here."

That was more forthright than Finn had expected from the older man, and he wanted more information.

"So you're here to gain what? Superpowers?" asked Cameron, his mouth open.

"Don't be so myopic, young man," snapped Jonah, "Besides uncovering the mysteries of the past, there's something about discovering information being held closely by those in power that draws me in."

Incredulously, Cameron turned to Finn and sarcastically mouthed the word 'myopic.'

At this, Finn stood up and took Cameron off to the side and asked him, "Man, I realize this might not be what you bargained for in a trip out onto the routes. Are you cool with following Jonah around?"

The scrawny trainer had an uneasy expression plastered onto his face. "Well, Jonah's a bit crazy, don't you think? Conspiracy theories, and all that?"

Even though Finn agreed with Cameron's assessment, this was something that he needed to figure out.

"I know it sounds like that, but I've seen some weird stuff in my time as a trainer, and I can't help but be intrigued by what he's saying," replied Finn. "If you don't want to go, we can just go looking for a smeargle like we originally planned. It's up to you, man."

Cameron thought silently for a moment, and said, "I'm in. This is the kind of stuff traveling trainers get into all of the time isn't it? It's about time I start acting like one."

After that, the two made their way back to the campfire.

Finn sat down and said, "Well, I'll be searching for a smeargle around these parts for the next few days. I think if you want company exploring your ruin, we wouldn't be opposed. It sounds interesting."

Really, he was itching to see if any of Jonah's theories had merit. Cameron didn't know of Finn's experiences thus far, which was probably why he wasn't taking the older man's theory quite as seriously.

"Oh, I know a few good spots for you to look. They're a bit further into the ruins than you may have initially thought you'd like to travel, but I can pretty much guarantee that you'll find one if you come with me," said Jonah.

"Deal," Finn replied. If he had a chance to uncover some super-secret held by the League while still catching a smeargle, all the better.

* * *

Outside the Ruins of Alph sat a small Pokémon Center outpost surrounded by camper vans, trailers, and other necessities for the many researchers that spent weeks at a time out in the field studying the ancient ruins. There were some small buildings, but almost everything else was mobile. It was still early, and Finn could only see a few people milling around, most wearing the traditional white lab coats that were so common among the scientific community in Johto and Kanto.

The trio of traveling trainers went to grab some breakfast while they waited on their pokémon to be looked after by the Center's nurses.

"So, where exactly are we going today Jonah?" asked Finn, happily sipping on the coffee that was generally hard to come by on the road.

"Last fall, I accidentally stumbled upon an amphitheater that I'm sure was previously undiscovered. Inside, the symbols on the walls appeared to describe the elements—that is, the many types of pokémon that exist, and there were also paintings that resembled many legends from Johto, and even some from Sinnoh and Unova. Some had humans that—to me—looked like they were using the elements. We'll have a researcher come with us," said Jonah.

"How are we going to convince one of these people to come?" asked Cameron, nodding around the room at the many groups of scientists. Most of the flannel and khaki wearing group were reading their newspapers or typing away on their tablets or laptops.

"Oh, I have a contact. She should be here any minute now," said Jonah, keeping his eyes trained on the entryway.

"That's cool. I'm actually doing some work with Professor Elm at the moment. He was the one who gifted me my combusken," replied Finn, thinking about his only other experience with pokémon scientists. "I wonder if he'd be interested in your ruin?"

"That's quite the name drop, Finn. If I'd known you were connected, I might not have needed to call in this favor. Feel free to tell the Professor about it next time you see him. It's too late now though, my contact just walked in the room," said Jonah, as a tall mid-40's blonde woman walked into the Pokémon Center's dining area.

The woman held herself with confidence and her handsome face reminded Finn of a stereotypical strict teacher or librarian. She wore one of the ubiquitous white lab coats over a dark blue blouse. Six pokéballs were affixed her belt.

"Good morning, Jonah Trapper I presume?" she asked, extending her hand in greeting.

Jonah completed the hand-shake. "That's me, and you must be Helen Shirona. It's a pleasure to meet you. I trust my message got you up to speed?"

"That it did," she said, taking a seat by Finn. "And I must say, your claim about this room you found is fascinating. If what you wrote is true, I'm very interested in studying the place. I brought my equipment, and my institute's kadabra to help translate the Alph symbology you described." She saw Finn and Cameron, and gave them a once over. "Who are the kids?"

"Oh, they're some trainers I teamed up with on the way here. Finn here is quite capable, and he's helping get Cameron get up to snuff. Boys, meet Mrs. Helen Shirona, one of the Coronet Institute's top archeologists. She's on loan from Sinnoh to Vermillion University for the next year, and kindly accepted my request to help us."

Finn and Cameron exchanged pleasantries with the woman, with Finn asking questions about Sinnoh, and some of the species native to that region.

"I suppose that these two will do," she said, looking at Jonah. "I have a daughter just a few years older than they are, and now that she's out of the house, it's given me some time for some of my own projects," she said, giving a small smile at the mention of her daughter. "I assume you'll be joining us in exploring the ruins?"

"That's the plan, ma'am," said Finn.

Finn took some time to check out the Pokémon Center's computer terminal. Neither of his friends had sent a message yet, and Finn quickly sent off a message to the mareanie trainer, letting him know that he had made it to the Ruins of Alph and that he planned to have his smeargle in the next four to five days.

After that, the two older trainers loaded up Finn and Cameron with massive packs full of equipment, and they made their way out into the ruins.

* * *

Even two days of traveling later, Finn couldn't help but be in awe of the massive expanse of ancient buildings. At times, the interconnecting caves and above-ground structures felt never-ending. Occasionally, the group was forced to descend to a lower cavern and then they would suddenly emerge above-ground once again. The society that had lived here in the past must have rivaled even Johto's largest cities today.

Patterned writings covered the walls from floor to ceiling. There were murals of pokémon that many people thought were extinct or even legendary. Dispersed intermittently along the corridors were pillars that were intricately carved. Some resembled rhydon or dragonite, but many of the creatures were unrecognizable.

At one point Finn was certain that he'd seen one of the pictograms on the walls move, but when he looked back, the symbols on the wall remained stationary.

"We're about to emerge out onto a clearing that sometimes have smeargle, Finn," said Jonah, gesturing at a glowing opening before them. "If you like, we can camp here and search for a smeargle for a while?"

"Perfect, thanks Jonah," said Finn, before he looked over at Cameron. "Are you ready to get Lotad a few more battles?"

Since rigorous training was difficult in the cramped passageways and buildings, he and his team were taking a break from their three-a-day program. As a result, he wasn't too tired from their travels thus far, and both he and Cameron's pokémon were ready to battle.

"Absolutely, he's getting to the point where he's getting my battle instructions most of the time now," said Cameron.

Finn nodded. "That's good. Let me put down some of this equipment, and we'll get going."

He gently let the humongous traveling pack to the ground. Unburdened by the heavy recording equipment that Mrs. Shirona had pawned off on him and Cameron, Finn felt his shoulders sag in relief.

Large pines mixed with some oaks lined the banks of a small creek that ran through a quaint valley. The cool breeze and gurgling water, made the scene quite idyllic. It was a landscape that a painter would be remiss to overlook.

"See those trees over there?" said Jonah. Across the grassy clearing they'd exited onto stood a copse of trees. At Finn's nod, he continued, "Look for the smeargle's paint marks on the bark. They mark their territory that way."

Not realizing how helpful Jonah was going to be on his search for a smeargle, Finn looked back at the man. "Thanks, I didn't know you knew so much about smeargle?"

"I spent a lot of time here as a kid. It's part of the reason I found the place we're heading to."

"Do you mind if I join you boys?" asked Helen. "You're going to capture a pokémon for trading, correct? One of my companions may be able to expedite the process. Macey, come on out!"

At her order, a bipedal pokémon appeared before the group. It had large blue fox-like ears, and intelligent red eyes. The pokémon's muscles rippled underneath it's blue and black fur, and sharp steel points protruded from its wrists and chest.

Finn gasped. "A lucario! They're so rare, how'd you come by one?" He approached the regal pokémon with something akin to reverence. "Hi, Macey, it's nice to meet you."

Helen's lucario put both paws together and gave a quick bow in greeting.

"Lucario are something of a family legacy of mine. I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to find one in the wild," she said. "With that out of the way, I'd say that Macey here might be able to help your smeargle search go by a little faster."

Two hours of travel later, Finn, Cameron, and Helen had battled seven natu, and found three smeargle. The natu—a small psychic type bird pokémon with a beautiful green, red, and black coloration—were extremely common in the area.

The smeargle that they'd found all had pigment that was too far from yellow for Finn to really consider appropriate for his trade, but in the past few minutes they'd found a large pine with a splash of orangey-yellow paint splattered all across its bark. Helen had Macey sniff the paint on the bark, hoping the pokémon would catch the smeargle's scent.

Of course, at the same time, the group ran into yet another natu.

"Icy wind, Felix!" Finn called out.

The swinub, who had been putting on more and more weight recently, unleashed a torrent of snow and sharp ice crystals at the bird. In one hit, the creature fell to the ground unmoving.

The entire time they'd been in the forest, the flying-psychic types had been pelting them with confusion attacks from the trees, and would not leave them alone. Unfortunately for Cameron, the natu were too strong for Lotad to be of much use, but the younger teen had been letting his pokémon observe all of Felix and Macey's battles.

"You both have a nice relationship with your pokémon. I could see you going far in the League," said Helen as she crouched down to feed Felix a treat from her bag. The swinub was scurrying around her feet excitedly, having already had a few treats during their hike.

Blushing, both Finn and Cameron gave the Sinnoan woman their thanks, before Finn added, "Did you take on the Gym circuit in your country?"

"But of course. In Sinnoh, there is still mandatory League service for every citizen. You'd be hard pressed to find a person there who didn't at least have one badge. We have a high rate of trainer loss out in the wilds, but at the same time, our average citizen is much more capable of traveling unmolested by pokémon," she said, placing a fond hand onto her lucario's back. "I'm not in favor of the law, but maybe one day someone will change it. I made it past some of our Elites before falling."

Eyes widening, Cameron said, "You've beaten an Elite?"

"Oh, that was years ago. My current team has aged somewhat, but I think I could still hold my own."

Their conversation was interrupted when Macey sniffed at the air and turned to sprint into the trees.

"Quick, let's follow!" said Finn, recalling Felix, who might have been too slow to follow the agile fighting-steel type.

It was clear that the lucario was pacing herself so that the humans could follow. After a few moments of running through the forest, Finn was already having trouble trying to catch his breath, and low hanging branches were whipping past his face.

They caught up to Macey at the edge of a lowland marsh area. There, playing in the muddy water, was a smeargle. Its tail had dried yellow-orange paint that was reminiscent of a light honey color, perfectly acceptable for his trade partner's needs.

"This is perfect, thanks Macey," said Finn, pulling out Dixie's pokéball, and throwing it down. "Dixie! Double kick now!"

The battle that followed was rather pathetic. The smeargle, after taking the two super-effective kicks in a row from Finn's combusken's thick talons, attempted to retaliate using its own version of the same move. Trying to copy Dixie's double kick caused the paint-pokémon to fall backwards and splash into a puddle.

When it emerged, Finn had Dixie use ember before tossing a pokéball at the downed pokémon.

There was nothing quite like the surge of adrenaline when catching a new pokémon. With his upcoming trade, this smeargle was going to help Finn fill out a large hole in his team's construction. Toxapex were well known tanks, and their battle style was completely different from the rest of Finn's team.

Finn pulled out a sitrus berry to reward for his partner, and rubbed her crest feathers as she ate.

"Thank you so much Helen. Thanks Macey, we may have been out here all day if not for you," said Finn, clutching the ball housing his new acquisition.

* * *

To reach the amphitheater that Jonah had discovered, Finn had to traverse a long set of switchbacks up a steep gravelly hill. He quickly realized why nobody else had bothered to find the area. The entrance sat atop a large hill that was composed of a brown and chalky type of rock. It was loose, crumbled easily, and was sometimes very sharp, making the climb dangerous. Finn relied heavily on his swinub's steady footing, grabbing at Felix's thick fur to keep his balance the entire way up. He hadn't always been successful, for at one point he'd cut the palm of his hand on a sharp rock while catching his balance.

"You're doing great Finn! Don't worry, my kadabra is ready to catch you if you fall!" Helen called up to Finn, who had volunteered to get a rope to the top so the others could safely climb behind him.

The Sinnoan woman had given him a stake to hammer into the ground at the entrance to the amphitheater to which he could tie the rope.

Finn muttered under his breath, "No wonder they wanted me and Cameron along. Jonah found someone young to do his work for him."

Exhaling heavily, he reached what may have once been a majestic entryway. Of the two columns that had once framed the opening, one lay on its side and was cracked in many places. A large boulder that must have rolled down from further up the hill lay in a perfect place to obstruct someone trying to enter the ten foot square entrance. Finn could just barely see symbols etched across the stone pillars, but the wind and rain over the years had taken its toll, making the writings hard to make out.

Pulling his pack off his back, he reached in and grabbed a metal stake the size of his forearm and a large hammer. Finding a patch of earth near the entrance that looked much more stable than the rock he'd just climbed, he hammered in the stake before affixing a long length of rope for the others to climb.

Finn tossed the rope down to Cameron, Jonah, and Helen, and called out, "It's all attached and ready for you, be careful, the rocks crumble easily!"

Resolving himself to wait until the rest had climbed up, he sat down on the overturned pillar to watch and make sure that the rope stayed put. He let himself relax, and propped himself up with his arms, his two palms facing down against the stone.

Unbeknownst to Finn, a slight azure glow began emanating from one of the symbols etched onto its surface the moment he sat down. The symbol was a straight horizontal line, with something akin to a stick-figure hand protruding down from it.

The blue light was growing, and within seconds Finn couldn't help but notice it.

 _'What the hell_ ,' he thought as he jumped to his feet. The glow expanded and almost like a psychic attack, it reached across the empty air between them to encompass Finn as well. He didn't have time to scream before everything went black.

* * *

I have some reservations about this chapter, but I really wanted to get something down on paper. Personally, I thought it may have been a bit slow/too exposition-y/too tell not show-y, but I hope you all enjoyed it (the cliffhanger especially).

Reviews are always welcome, I know it's been a long time!

 **Finn:  
** Felix - Swinub  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
Quake - Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken

 **Cameron:  
**? - Lotad


	13. Into the Unown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Noxy88 for betaing this chapter and making sure I didn’t write anything too ridiculous.

**Chapter 13:** Into the Unown

An expanse of inky blackness filled Finn's vision.

It was almost how he would've imagined outer-space might be like, only there were no stars or planets. It was more like being stuck in an underground cavern with absolutely no light source.

Except, Finn's own body was visible.

His mind struggled to bridge the gap in logic as he stared down at his feet, which were standing above nothingness.

Then, in the distance, white specks of light began appearing in the black.

' _Were those stars? Was he actually in space?_ ' Finn thought.

Soon, eighteen holes in the bleak emptiness around him shone through, and if Finn wasn't imagining things—like he very well thought he might be—the lights were growing closer.

Finn rested an apprehensive hand on one of the pokéballs on his belt, but was fearful of what might happen if he released one of his pokémon out into this vast darkness. As if sensing his unease, the lights upped their pace, coming ever-closer.

Pinpricks ran along Finn's arms, and his breath quickened in anticipation for whatever was coming. Squinting, Finn was able to discern that the lights weren't stars at all.

They were eyes.

"What do you want from me?" Finn screamed.

A response wasn't forthcoming, but Finn began to hear a humming sound, and the eyes' approach quickened yet again.

He tried to wrap his mind around what was happening. Was this where all of those lost explorers met their fate? In a dark nothingness filled with humming eyes? Finn wasn't ready to die. He'd been through too much for this to be his end. Glaring at the oncoming eyes, he strengthened his resolve.

Even as he watched them creep closer, Finn was beginning to make out shapes in the dark.

They were symbols. Symbols like the ones he'd seen throughout the ruins, except that they had wide unblinking eyes. Symbols that the top archeologists and linguists of the day were still attempting to uncover the full meaning for.

And then they were there, circling him. Their vibrating, humming bodies moving up and down in the air. The symbols appeared to be composed of an oddly flexible black material. Some of them were almost exactly like the ones they'd passed previously in the ruins, while others were completely alien to him.

As one, the mysterious set of—pokémon?—began to hum. It was almost as if they were speaking to each other. Then, each of their eyes squinted in unison and a new source of light formed behind the creatures. Large rectangles illuminated in all colors imaginable appeared, with one color for each symbol. The first was a fiery red, then a burnt razz berry, and so on, encompassing a palette of eighteen separate colors. Each of the symbol creatures were set in relief against the backdrop of a colored tile, making them much easier to make out.

"I'm not here for trouble," said Finn, beginning to hyperventilate as he realized there was nothing he could do. He was at their mercy. "Just let me go! At least let my pokémon go!"

In a flash of light, and with a trilling sound from what may have been a flute, Finn, and the gaggle of symbols around him were teleported into a dimly lit cavern. He found himself standing on a raised triangular platform, but he didn't have time to relish the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet.

A foreign amused emotion flitted at the corners of Finn's mind before the symbol superimposed against a backdrop of fiery red floated forward. Shaped in a facsimile of the letter 'A', the pokémon began to manipulate a ball of energy in the air the same color as the tile behind it. Faster than Finn could follow, the ball of fire shot into his chest.

Upon entering his body, Finn was bombarded by a myriad of thoughts, visions, and feelings. He tried to remain calm even as a fire burned inside of him.

Extreme heat was emanating from the caldera of a volcano. A fire ran up the trunk of a tree that had been struck by lightning. A tall brown and grey canid pokémon with a cloud of smoke trailing down its spine ran wild through tall grass. In a distant land, a graying older gentleman commanded his magmortar to battle an opposing blastoise with naught but a gesture.

Even as he felt his body try to contain the presence that had entered him, Finn was overcome by a sense of rejection that hit him in his very soul. The raging inferno was not compatible with him, which caused the red ball of light to quickly exit his body and retreat back towards the 'A' symbol pokémon.

A wave of exhaustion filled him. It wasn't his muscles that were complaining, but something deeper, a part of himself that he didn't know he had.

The symbol near the darker, razz berry colored tile was next. When the orb of light landed, Finn was hit with the feeling of inhaling crisp mountain air. Pride seemed to radiate from every pore of his body as a blast of purple fire destroyed an enemy shelgon entering his territory, causing the pokémon to flee for its life. For a brief moment Finn saw Clair discussing something with her cousin, the Champion of the Pokémon League. Finn thought that this orb was slightly more compatible with him than the first, but it still wasn't right. Just as with the first, it returned to the symbol where it came from and continued to float in front of the creature.

He lost track of time as he was immersed in a deluge of sensations as ball after ball of light was injected into his body. His consciousness was overtaken by confusing visions of trainers and pokémon he didn't recognize. At one point, he thought he saw Karen of the Elite Four, and in another vision, an older woman who had a familiar look about her commanded a massive gigalith in battle.

It wasn't until a loamy brown orb met his skin that Finn realized that, as a person, he'd never been whole until that moment.

He became the earth around him.

The circle of life and death was unending in the soil, where leaves decomposed and their nutrients, along with the surrounding minerals, were taken in by the roots of the trees and plants. Finn could feel the growth and decay, the malleability, and an unyielding strength. He saw a small mole pokémon burrowing until it reached its underground nest of squeaking pups. A gargantuan red scaled pokémon caused a jet of land to emerge from an endless ocean.

Finn gasped. Something deep inside him was resonating with the orb, and he felt like a switch had been turned on inside him. There, floating in his mind's eye just beneath his navel sat a small marble sized brown light, which seemed to be soaking in the energy from the symbol's orb, feeding it, giving it life that had previously only had the barest of a foundation.

His perception exploded.

It was almost primal, the intrinsic connection that Finn felt to the ground underneath him. The exhaustion left behind by the many previous orbs was melted away by a vigor that thrummed throughout his limbs, stemming from his center.

He could extend his senses deeply into the earth around him. There was a deposit of hard minerals one hundred feet underneath his feet. Somehow, he knew that there was snow on the ground outside. It was almost as if he had full control of his surroundings. If Finn had wished it, the earth would have moved for him.

He blinked.

The symbol pokémon vanished, and he was left in the center of a massive cavern. It was ancient and enormous, with dark gray stone columns wider than a rhydon reaching towards the ceiling. He noticed slabs of stone comprised of familiar colors embedded intermittently across the walls.

Startled, Finn could tell that his connection to the earth was slowly fading. Over the next minute, the nexus between Finn and the ground below diminished until what was left lingered as a silent acknowledgement. He no longer possessed an all-encompassing power over the earth, but a well of energy remained within him.

Taking in his surroundings, Finn realized the cavern wasn't quite as large as he thought it was. Fifty yards behind him, an opening shone with the light of the sun. This allowed him to see the symbols etched into every piece of available stone on the walls of the temple-like cave he was in.

Suddenly, something stood to block the light at the entryway, casting an elongated shadow into the cavern.

"People appear here from time to time, usually with a different story as to how," a voice called out, cracking with age.

From the entryway, an elderly gentleman, using a cane to walk forward, stepped into the dimly lit area around them. The older man clenched a smoke pipe between his teeth as he stared in at Finn, his bristly white eyebrows scrunching together.

"So, young man. What type are you, and where are you from?"

Finn's thoughts raced as he comprehended what the man said. What type was he? It wasn't hard to come to a conclusion.

This was the culmination of all of the odd things Finn had seen and done on his journey thus far. The Gym leaders' _otherness_ , Jonah's ramblings, Finn's own ability to disrupt the nuzleaf's swagger, and more. The ground beneath him still called, even if the initial surge had faded into a silent comforting presence.

"Ground, sir. I'm from Blackthorn, but was visiting the Ruins of Alph when this happened," Finn said, still trying to gather himself after the experience with the symbol pokémon.

The man across from Finn let out a chuckle and a puff of smoke. "Ahh, the unown. They're not the usual culprit, but I've seen it before."

"Unown, sir?"

"Those symbols, boy! Don't be daft," he said, before sharply gesturing for Finn to follow him. "Come with me, and we'll get you sorted out."

As they left the temple, the man introduced himself as Reginald, the Keeper of Sinjoh, which was apparently what the ruins around them were called.

Inwardly, Finn was shocked to be walking through a thick layer of snow towards a small house in the distance with smoke billowing out of a clay chimney. To be somewhere in early summer and then abruptly somewhere else with snow on the ground was confusing to say the least. The concept wasn't one he was unfamiliar with. People paid high prices for teleport services all of the time. It was just the first time that it'd happened to Finn out of nowhere. Lance's alakazam had taken them to New Bark from Route 45, but the distance hadn't been far enough to change the climate to this extent. Even more confusingly, it'd taken Lance's immensely powerful psychic type multiple jumps to travel just that far.

The house and the entrance to the temple were surrounded on both sides by rocky mountains. There was very little vegetation growing in the surrounding snow-laden, craggy rocks.

Finn hoped that Cameron, Jonah, and Helen weren't going crazy trying to figure out what had happened. Surely, Reginald would be able to get word back to them.

As the two walked into Reginald's hut, Finn asked, "I was with some friends before the unown took me. Do you have a way for me to get in touch with them?"

"When you go back depends on you, Finn, but I don't have any electronics here," replied the man, sitting down on a soft sofa by the fire, while Finn did the same. "Do you know what happened to you? Will you be blabbing to the nearest Jenny about my ruins?"

' _Blabbing to the nearest Jenny? This guy hasn't been in civilization for a while. Nobody's called the police Jenny's for like thirty years._ '

"I have an idea, but not much more than that. Care to explain what's going on?" said Finn, finally calming down somewhat.

"It's pretty simple. Many people have latent type abilities that never become fully expressed. The types correspond with the eighteen known pokémon types. Those that train pokémon and have a deep bond with a pokémon of their type have a much higher chance of manifesting their latent talents. When someone manifests a core of type energy inside their soul, it becomes a part of them forever. I'd say that a slight majority of the Gym leaders and almost all of the Elite have type abilities. Almost all of the people that manifest in both Indigo and Sinnoh are brought here—to me."

"So, the unown teleport people with abilities here? That seems oddly specific. I just sat down on a pillar outside a ruin?"

"Well, the unown part is pretty rare actually. Usually, an alpha pokémon of the trainer's type will bring them to Sinjoh. My last pupil was a girl a bit older than you who was led here by her Lucario a few months ago," said Reginald, exhaling another puff of smoke from his pipe. "But the boy before her was flown on a giant volcarona, which I'd never seen before. That was quite a sight. After it dropped the young man off, the creature just flew away. One time, many years ago, a Suicune brought me a student."

"That's amazing. I'm still kind of shocked that this is happening at all," said Finn. He wanted to release Felix. A comforting presence in an unfamiliar place would be nice. "Do you mind if I let out my starter? He's a swinub?"

Reginald lost his composure for a moment. "Your starter is still in its initial stage of evolution? Yes, release him out now!"

Felix appeared on the clay tile floor in a flash of red light, before promptly laying down on top of Finn's feet. When the swine pokémon made contact with Finn's leg, he felt an immediate connection, deeper than he'd ever felt with his starter. It was almost as if he knew what his friend was thinking. There was a sense of companionship and contentment between them.

Finn reached down with a pokémon treat in hans and said, "Hey buddy, we're in a bit of a situation here. Have some food and keep me company, okay? This is Reginald."

Felix huffed out a greeting to the older man while munching on his treat, wiggling his circular body in an attempt to get comfortable on top of Finn's boots.

"So, what's so surprising about my starter?" asked Finn, curious.

"Normally, the trainers I meet are much more advanced in their careers. Most have attained at least six Gym badges before they manifest their cores. Bonding with a strong pokémon of your type is an integral part of the process. How many badges do you have currently?"

"Just one at the moment. But leader Clair has told me that I'm advanced for how far along I am in my journey," said Finn.

"I've never had someone sent here with less than four badges before, and that was just once" said Reginald, sinking his back into the cushion of his sofa while he thought. "Give me your hand."

Reginald reached out his wrinkly appendage for Finn to take. Upon contact, an icy coolness invaded and searched around where Finn's earth core had taken shape in his navel.

"You have the least developed core that I've ever seen, but we can deal with this. You'll just need to spend a few extra days with me and you'll have enough control not to cause a scandal back in civilization," said Reginald.

"You're keeping me here?" asked Finn, his voice raised in alarm. As his emotions rose, he felt the earth beneath him shift ever so slightly.

Alarmed, Finn stood up abruptly, looking down at the ground. Felix jumped up as well, harrumphing in discontent at the sudden movement.

Reginald sent Finn a pointed look.

"That right there is what we'll have to get under control. While you're more than welcome to leave, good luck finding your way back to humanity without my alakazam to teleport you," said Reginald, unfazed by Finn's anger. "It's really to keep you from harming anyone with your talent, and to keep the League's secret a bit longer."

"But why keep it a secret at all if so many people have these abilities?" asked Finn, slowly lowering himself back onto the sofa.

"Between three regions, I see a new trainer around once a year, and I've waited as long as four years between students before. It's really not _that_ common, Finn," said Reginald, who then spoke more seriously than before, "The League stationed me here not only to act as a guide for the talents that emerge in our regions, but to make sure they remain silent about it. Imagine if people discovered that they could have abilities similar to pokémon? The greed of humanity would make trainers of those who would catch pokémon solely for their own desires, and not for the right reasons. Then, we would have thousands more pokémon trainers, most of which would never manifest type abilities anyway. Those that did would likely become a liability, perishing in the wilds in numbers greater than ever before."

Finn took all of that in.

"Reginald, I'm not saying that I would tell anyone, but how do you stop the trainers that you see every year from going on the news and revealing their powers to the world?"

The older man's eyes dropped in resignation. "Well, my alakazam has already been sent to get a representative from your League. It's why I asked you where you were from," he said. "I imagine Champion Lance, or someone else high up in the League will be teleporting here in the next day or so while we try to get a hold on your abilities. They will determine your trustworthiness."

By that time the sun was setting, and Reginald showed him to a small bedroom that adjoined the opposite side of the small house.

"Sleep, and we'll begin your assessment tomorrow. The faster you get yourself under control, the faster you can go home," said Reginald.

Finn slept poorly. He kept thinking about his friends, whether Cameron and the rest of the explorers were searching for him. On the other hand, he was excited. Who wouldn't want to learn how to use techniques only pokémon could use? How strong could Finn become?

The next morning, Finn introduced Reginald to his team. He even let out Quake from his ball. If Reginald was working for the League, and they were as isolated as he thought they were, then letting his larvitar out of his ball didn't seem like too crazy of an idea.

Dixie was shy as always, preferring to stand in Finn's shadow, while Quake hissed at the older man and then at his fire type team mate, and promptly began exploring the dark stones that littered the mountainous valley for choice pieces to eat. It appeared that Quake was still upset with Dixie about the sitrus berry.

It was almost overwhelming, but Finn felt a noticeably stronger connection to his team. Dixie looked to him with a familial warmth, whereas Quake regarded him with a grudging respect. He hadn't released Benedict for fear of the cold weather negatively affecting his exeggcute's health, and his it was better to not become overly attached to his newly caught smeargle.

"I can almost feel what my pokémon are thinking," said Finn in wonder.

"That's one of the delightful side effects of awakening your type abilities, Finn. As you grow closer to your team, they will grow more powerful in return, some will even take on aspects of their trainer's type. It's part of the reason why the Elites are always type ability users. They have a leg up on the competition. My alakazam, for example, has learned over the years to use a mean blizzard attack because of my ice type ability," said Reginald, smiling as he formed a shard of ice in his hand and allowing it to drop to the ground. "Now, return your team. We're going to be working on you today."

Over the next few hours Reginald had Finn meditate in the most uncomfortable of poses in an attempt to form a connection with the 'essence' of the ground type. He kept spewing wisdom such as, 'feel the earth beneath you' and 'control your emotions.'

Oddly enough, it wasn't that hard to connect to the ground type essence seeping upwards from beneath him. He had felt it all his life, not nearly as strongly as he did now, but he'd felt it all the same. There was a comforting stableness in the ground.

"Now breath in, bringing that essence into your core, adding it to what is already there, now breath out, letting that power flow through your body."

Finn followed the instructions, taking in the essence, and circulating it around his body. While the amount of essence he took in was minuscule compared to what he could feel in the dirt around him, it was relaxing, and he felt the strain of the strange meditation poses gradually subsiding as he completed the exercises.

It had only been a day, but Finn was amazed by the transformation in his body. As yet, his new type core had conferred onto him an excess of energy, his muscles feeling like they could work indefinitely. He had the ability to sense into the ground around himself in a circle of approximately ten feet, making it easy to feel the footsteps Reginald was making behind him. That, combined with his new ability to understand his team on a more profound level, was exhilarating.

Hours went by with Reginald trying to incite anger in Finn with insults and derision, hoping for the younger trainer to lose control of his ability. Fortunately, Finn caught on after the first few comments, and was able to maintain his control thereafter.

The next day, Reginald had Finn work exclusively with Felix. As his first pokémon that shared his type, Reginald explained that it would be best to try and sense his pokémon's ground type affinity and emulate it. If he could do this, then he might be able to one day reproduce something similar to a pokémon attack. Reginald explained that this was a process that took years even for type trainers with much more developed core's than Finn had, and not to expect much for a while.

He was meditating with his swinub in his lap, fascinated by how the ground type essence swirled inside his partner. The calm brown light intertwined with an icy white as it made its way throughout his pokémon's body.

Deep in meditation, Finn senses picked up a pair of footsteps walking towards where he and Felix were practicing.

Slowly opening his eyes and turning he saw Clair, all elegance and poise, striding over to meet him. On her shoulder, a vibrava was perched, occasionally flapping its green dragonfly-like wings.

"Finn! What a surprise this was," she said, joy in her voice. "I'd suspected I felt something when I first met you, but for it to happen this soon, it's amazing! The excitement never seems to stop around you, does it?"

Finn found himself smiling with the dragon trainer without meaning to. "Hiya Clair, it's been an interesting couple of days. Are you here to take me home?"

The blue-haired trainer's smile faltered for a moment, "Ah, Finn. Well, we will just have to see about that ride home just yet. We have to go over a few things first."

Finn thought he'd been doing well with Reginald's exercises, and that he was well on his way to getting home. He needed to tell his friends he was okay, and the one to two weeks he'd given the mareanie trainer to wait on his smeargle trade was coming due quickly. Hell, even Alan and Orion would be back in the near future.

"Reginald, tell Leader Clair about my progress, please," he said, his face growing slightly anxious.

The graying man held out a placating hand, "Finn, calm down. You have done passingly well thus far. But the Pokémon League is a complex beast, and those with the power to reach its heights are extensively catalogued. Miss Clair here will be sitting you down for a chat before you go."

Finn followed the trainer he considered a mentor into Reginald's small home, before seating themselves at the kitchen table.

"First of all, congratulations on manifesting your type ability. I've heard that ground type has some fantastic applications. League representatives come here and give all of the bad news to newly minted type trainers, but there's so much more to it than that. Manifesting a dragon type ability was the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Clair pulled out a stack of documents from her briefcase, and placed them on the table before him. She folded her delicate hands over top of the paper, and looked seriously across the table at Finn. "Finn, I've only known you for the past few months, but I feel like I can be candid with you." At Finn's contrite nod, she continued, "This paperwork is designed to try and keep tabs on those with type abilities within Indigo and Sinnoh. People who can tame creatures of power are inherently kept up with, but those people with type abilities, those that can use pokémon-like abilities on their own, are afforded no leeway by the League. This is an in-depth NDA. Do you know what that is?"

Finn gulped and nodded, "It's a non-disclosure agreement, right? I've heard that when engineers leave Silph Co. for another company they have to sign one before they go so they don't take company secrets with them to a competitor."

"That's right Finn, only in this case, you'll be signing away your right to speak about type abilities. This is a secret that the League holds in the highest esteem. All regions of the world have come to similar terms with their own type trainers. For now, signing these documents will preclude you from using any banks other than the League's, and it will prohibit you from traveling to other regions without express League approval." Clair sighed. "I know it seems like a lot, but once you know the history of the type trainers in the League, you might understand our caution. For now, all you need to know is that if you talk with _anyone_ about type abilities that don't already know about them, you'll be subject to losing the contents of your bank account, your League license, and more."

Finn gulped. Was his life now completely in the League's hands? How was that fair? All he could do is sense the ground around him and he had a bit more energy. Finn trusted Clair though, and she seemed to think that this was as serious as it came.

"I trust you Clair, but hypothetically, what would happen if I didn't sign these documents?"

The dragon tamer's face grew grim. "I'm not so sure that's an option for you Finn. I don't like being the bearer of this news, but Lance thought you might take it better coming from someone you knew."

Finn felt the blood drain from his face as he took in the implications of that statement. Finally, he reached his hands across the table for the stack of paper. "Okay, I'll sign, but is there _anything_ good in these papers?"

Clair seemed to relax again once Finn claimed that he would sign the paperwork.

"I'm glad you asked. Type trainers receive a generous monthly stipend from the League, and upon reaching the five badge milestone, are eligible for subsidized ranch housing for their excess pokémon. Both perks are worth quite a lot of money, and, in my opinion, are more than enough reason to keep your silence."

Those benefits sure sounded great to him. If the stipend was large enough, he might be able to purchase TMs that only sponsored trainers could afford.

It took Finn all of thirty minutes and a hand cramp to sign his life away to the League.

"Thank you, Finn. I know that it is unpleasant, but things are the way they are for a reason," said Clair, neatly placing the signed documents into her briefcase. "After your initial lessons with Reginald, I have one last test for you and Felix, and then you can go home. Tell me, what ground type moves does young Felix know?"

After explaining his swinub's capabilities, Clair brought them outside and released her vibrava into the air. "Bleaker, dig us a large hole please."

"So, what's this test?" asked Finn, eyeing the dragon ground type as it manufactured a ten by ten hole in the earth.

"Based on your swinub's attacks, I think this will be a sufficient challenge of your new type abilities for you to escape this trap. Now, jump in!"

Clair lightly shoved Finn into the freshly excavated hole in the ground. His newly enhanced body allowed him to flip in the air and land easily in a crouch. He recalled swinub from above and released him again beside himself.

"Now what?"

"Escape using only you and Felix's abilities," said Clair as she called out for Bleaker to cover the top of the hole with a chunk of dirt, allowing the two below a small hole for them to breath.

That was how, for the second time in two days, Finn found himself in complete blackness. Only it was different this time. Finn could feel the ground around him, and could even track the dragon type Gym leader's pacing steps above him in his mind.

Finn traced his hands across the edges of the hole. He had some room to work with. Finn knelt down to Felix. "Okay boy, I know we've only been working on bulldoze for a little while, but I think that's the only one of your moves that gives us a shot of getting out of here."

Through his ground sense he could feel his swinub scurrying from one side of the hole to the other, panicking. While Felix was more than happy digging in the ground close to the surface, his starter had never been abruptly submerged so deeply in the soil.

"Felix, use your senses! Follow my voice back to me."

In the dark, he couldn't get over how amazing it was that he could _feel_ where his partner was at all times. He could even tell that Felix was stressed at the moment. "Okay boy, now let's try a bulldoze. Use it on the soil above us!"

Felix pawed at the ground before flexing his hind legs and jumping upwards before crashing his limbs down into the dirt. A small amount of earth above Finn shifted, and a beam of light shone down into the small hole the two were trapped in.

"That was good, but let's try something," said Finn, placing a hand on Felix's back.

He reached out with his new sense, following the light brown strands of energy flowing through the swinub's body. "One more time, same attack!"

This time when Felix reared up, Finn concentrated on pushing his own type essence into his partner, bolstering the strands forming the attack. At first, it was like there was a massive barrier between him and his pokémon, but then Finn _shoved_ the energy with the entirety of his will, causing his swinub to let out a loud huff as he came down to release the bulldoze attack.

The air above Finn was suddenly clear. In fact, the hole was deeper than the original, and completely devoid of the dirt brought on by Clair's vibrava. Beside him, Felix squealed in delight and his body erupted into a lightshow.

Barely visible in the glow of light, he saw Felix grow. His back elongated, reaching more than double his previous height, with two distinct arches forming. Two short tusks emerged from the sides of Felix's snout, and the swine-like pokémon's brown striped fur grew longer and darker.

Felix had finally evolved. Above him, he could hear Clair and Reginald clapping.

* * *

**AN:** While this is a bit shorter of a chapter, there's a lot going on with it. The inspiration from Sacrifice and Subjugation is pretty blatant here. I am wondering if you guys think the NDA is too similar to the contracts that MetalDargon has going on in his story? If so, I might try to change the mode of control to something different. Please let me know what you think, and PM any grammer mistakes.

**Finn:  
** Felix - Piloswine  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
Quake - Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken  
Smeargle


	14. A Web of Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to Noxy88 for betaing this chapter. Everyone should go check out his new story The Calling of a Trainer on FF.net
> 
> Shout out to n0mster and Blue is the Sea for some great reviews that definitely gave me something to think about. I'll be honest that I wasn't sure what UnlimitedPastryWorks meant by 'breaking SoD' in his review, so if you read this, I'd love some clarification.

**Chapter 14:** A Web of Lies

Finn stared down at his newly evolved starter. A knot formed in his throat as the emotions from the past few days began to take hold. He crouched low so that he could look Felix in the eyes.

' _This was the next step. They'd come so far_.'

"Felix! Look at you!"

From the ground to the top of his largest hump, Felix now stood at around four feet high. A far cry from the small swinub that he'd been when captured all those months ago. Finn thought it likely that the piloswine would continue growing as he aged and became stronger too.

He reached a hand out, scratching behind his partner's hairy elephantine ears. Finn's hand trailed down Felix's furry face towards where the two recently developed tusks radiated a cold aura. It was almost as if they were made of ice.

' _Icicle crash is going to be deadly now_ ,' thought Finn.

He was about to see if the tusks were _actually_ made of ice, when Felix launched himself forward with a happy grunt. Finn's breath was violently ejected from his lungs, and if he hadn't recently gained a much more robust constitution of his own, his pokémon's weight may have broken some of his bones.

He gasped, laughing as the ground ice type licked at his face. "Down boy!"

Finally, he broke free and heard a regal voice call from above the rim of the hole they'd just broken free from. "I'd say that even more congratulations are in order."

Finn looked up with a toothy smile. "I guess we passed, huh?"

"With flying colors. Even more, Reginald and I are blessed to bear witness to the evolution of your starter. It's such a special event," said Clair, while rummaging through her travel bag.

She pulled out an ultraball from within, and in a flash of red, a League loaner alakazam appeared beside her. "I take it that you are quite eager to return to Violet, Finn? It will take us multiple teleports to return to Johto. Why don't you allow me to take you and Felix for a little celebratory dinner in Blackthorn on the way back so we can further discuss your future?"

"Uh—Absolutely, that sounds great!"

He and Clair said their goodbyes to Reginald, who stood stoically by his own alakazam.

The keeper of Sinjoh waved in farewell, before adding, "Young man, thus far I've only taught you the very basics of what it means to be a type user—Just enough for you to keep it a secret. I want you to continue practicing your meditation techniques on a daily basis, lest you lose control and hurt someone." At that, the older man paused as if in deep thought. "Of the sixty or so trainers who have passed through Sinjoh during my tenure here, you have some of the most raw potential that I've ever seen. It would behoove you to find a teacher if you can manage it, Finn."

At that, Reginald turned and marched back towards his house.

* * *

It was hard for Finn to describe just how odd it was to be back in his hometown after so many months of travel. It had taken them several disorientating teleports to reach civilization again, and walking down Blackberry Street towards one of leader Clair's favorite restaurants was surreal to say the least.

The summer bustle of the streets reminded him of how great the summer in Blackthorn was for the scant few warm months they got so far north. The mountain town's residents always took full advantage of that time. People sat in groups at outdoor cafés, chatting and sipping coffee and other stronger drinks. Some were shopping at the various department stores in the area, and some were even heading towards the trainer fields to watch pokémon battles.

Considering all that had happened with the unown, Finn was in a constant state of trying to adjust to his new gifts. Even the simple action of walking down the street was made with less effort than ever before. Almost easily, Finn's senses extended downward where he could tell by the empty gap in the dirt that either a water main or a sewer pipe ran down the length of the street. The constant newness of his senses was invigorating, if a bit disorientating. It was like he could do anything.

The sun hung low on the horizon when the pair made it to the restaurant. An attendant held open a richly polished mahogany door for the two trainers. Posted in front of the host stand, a sign read: 'Pokémon Dining Areas Available Upon Request.'

The hostess, a pretty brunette woman in a white button up blouse greeted them kindly. "Good evening Leader Clair, do you require your regular table for you and your guest?"

At the dragon tamer's nod, the woman escorted them past the expansive lower dining area where the formally dressed guests sipped on oran wine in the dim candlelight. This was a place that Finn hadn't ever heard of before, and he grew up in the city.

For a moment Finn had the frightful thought that he might run into his stepfather Vince, before he realized that the man wouldn't have been caught dead in a place like this.

They continued towards the segmented back portion of the building where the restaurant's paneled flooring transitioned into smooth aesthetically pleasing stone pavers. There, the dinner guests were of a much more eclectic sort—namely, they were pokémon trainers.

On one side, a boisterous party of four was seated around a small wooden table clinking together full mugs of beer. Next to them lay four differently sized plates on the ground where a nidorino, furret, murkrow, and quagsire were all happily eating together.

They weren't the only ones either. Four other sets of trainers were scattered in clusters around the courtyard-esque room. One of the groups was even dressed in the navy and reds of the ACE.

When they reached their table, Clair said, "Go ahead and let Felix out, Finn. It's allowed here, and this meal is partially to celebrate his evolution."

Clair dropped a rather old looking greatball onto the floor where Aurora made her presence known. The kingdra was able to make floating in place look dignified. Finn always enjoyed taking in the water-dragon's sheer presence whenever Clair had her out. Orion was so lucky to have one of her offspring as a partner.

The two trainers ordered drinks and then their meal. Clair ordered Felix an outrageously expensive cornn-durin berry smoothie as a present for his evolution. The drink was meant to enhance a pokémon's cleverness and beauty.

' _Felix could do with a few more of those_ ,' Finn thought, looking down at his partner, whose muzzle was covered in the dark purple liquid.

Clair leaned back in her chair and sighed, which was the most casual action that Finn had ever seen from the Gym leader.

"I'm grateful that that is over. I have only ever needed to act as a liaison for a type user on one other occasion, and it did _not_ go as smoothly as yours did," she said.

Intrigued, Finn asked, "What happened?"

"Not many people know this, but I have something of a talent for sensing other people with latent type abilities. I even felt something in you when we first shook hands a few months back. Anyways, that's beside the point," she was about to continue with her story when Finn interrupted.

"Hey wait, so was the reason you let me use your Gym to train? Because you knew I had the potential to become a type user?" Finn accused.

Clair cast her gaze on Finn in amusement. "Of course not, or at least not fully. Look at that piloswine next to you, Finn. You trained a borderline infant swinub into _that_ in just over three months. I'm honestly rather pleased that I haven't lost my touch in judging talent."

Abashed, Finn had the tact to take the compliment for what it was. "Aw, thanks, I think—So um, what happened with this trainer?"

"She was one of my Gym trainers who I knew had the potential to awaken as a type user. I encouraged her to use a diverse team, even though she was interning at my gym to become a dragon trainer. Eventually, her arcanine grew powerful enough that her fire type abilities made themselves known."

"Oh, that's cool. I bet a fire type user could be pretty powerful," said Finn. "What alpha led her to Sinjoh?"

"It was a ninetails. Quite beautiful too," said Clair, clearly remembering the creature. "This trainer, she had a temper, and did not take kindly to the League's rules, so she tried to run. Granted, I was new to this back then, but I ended up having to teleport for back-up when her meowstic teleported her out of Sinjoh."

"That sounds tough, Clair. I mean, I didn't like signing away my life to the League either, but the perks sound like they might make up for the costs."

"That they do, Finn. Unless you're a fool, I don't believe money for training supplies will be an issue for much longer," said Clair with a smile. "Think about what that might mean for your poor exeggcute."

A wave of relief washed over him as Clair mentioned something he hadn't even considered. Benedict would surely benefit from the best medicines, and maybe he could afford a grass stone soon. His other team members could use expensive training items too, like a customizable macho brace or something similar.

"So, what happened to her?" Finn asked.

"We tried to talk sense into her, but she fought back," said Clair, eyes haunted. "She was one of my favorite Gym trainers, and she didn't trust me enough to make sure she was taken care of—This was years ago. Ever since, I have taken upon myself to try and break out of some of my more apathetic personality traits and engender more trust in the trainers under me."

While she didn't answer his question directly, a morbid implication was there. He certainly felt bad for what Clair had been forced to do, but he was also frightened as to the lengths the League would go to protect themselves.

"I'm sorry, that just sounds so extreme."

Clair spooned some soup into her mouth, and swallowed. "It was. I haven't heard of a type user fighting the system since then, but it will inevitably happen someday. You are a part of this club now too, Finn. As you grow, the League will pressure you to join the Rangers or to join ACE, anything to keep their influence."

"I was thinking about joining ACE anyway though," said Finn, scratching his head. "I just want to be left alone—maybe travel a bit. Eventually, I will want to challenge the best trainers in the world, isn't that enough?"

"The best, huh? If I had some advice for you, I would tell you to make nice with as many type users as you can. Eventually, you'll be able to sense them as well. The more people you have on your side, the less likely your independence will be questioned. Make yourself indispensable."

Finn nodded and they continued with their meal. Then, he realized there was something that he'd been meaning to ask the Gym leader about for a while now.

"Hey, so this is random, but did you ever uncover what was going on at the warehouse with all of the dead bugs?" asked Finn.

Clair's lips firmed into a fine line. "Well, strictly, I'm not supposed to speak on the topic. I will say that we did not uncover evidence of anything broader than the Violet experiments, like what you overhead that Zeta woman mentioning on her phone."

That was good news. He'd been a bit worried thinking about traveling to Azalea for his second badge if there was going to be another incident.

The rest of the dinner went well. He got to know Clair on a more personal level than he had before. At one point the dragon type user even showcased some of her abilities when she hardened the skin on her hand into dense orange scales.

"Before we continue our teleporting back to the ruins, do you mind if I drop off something at the Pokémon Center? There's something I have to take care of," said Finn, thinking about the smeargle resting inside a pokéball on his belt.

In one teleport they were standing outside the fire-engine red building. Finn ran inside and placed smeargle's ball into the Trader's Guild kiosk and assigned it to the open trade he'd formed with the other trainer along with a message.

' _If it hasn't been too long, here's as close to a yellow smeargle as I could find. Hope to hear from you soon, thanks_.'

He clicked the button stating that he was ready to initiate the trade on his end on an open-ended schedule. Finn would have to keep tabs on the kiosk in the coming days to make sure he didn't just leave smeargle waiting indefinitely out in the ether.

There was a PC system that trainers could use if they went over their six-pokémon carry limit. This system could suspend pokémon for months at a time without adversely affecting their health. It was the same system utilized in the trading kiosk. The nurses at the Pokémon Centers monitored all trainer's boxes to ensure that none of the pokémon were held in suspended animation for too long.

After that, he and Clair continued their cross-continental teleport. When they reached Cherrygrove, the Gym leader had to change psychic types, as the loaner alakazam was beginning to take on a haggard appearance. When a graceful gardevoir nodded at the two trainers, they kept going.

Twenty minutes later, the duo appeared in a small thicket of bushes by the Pokémon Center outside the Ruins of Alph.

"Finn, we're going to have to come up with a cover story for your absence," said Clair, face serious. "You can't tell anyone, not even Alan or Orion."

Finn's forehead creased as he attempted to plot out some kind of reason for his three-day disappearance.

In a spurt of inspiration, he came up with something on the fly. He pulled out his hunters knife.

"Woah, Finn, what are you doing?" asked the dragon trainer, raising her hand in caution.

"Nobody's going to believe I was taken by a rogue flock of xatu unless I have some scrapes to show for it," said Finn, wincing as he sliced a shallow cut on his cheek, and then another one near his bicep. "Felix evolved to fight them off and saved me. It took me all this time to find my way back to the Pokémon Center."

Clair's brows rose in surprise, and then her eyes hardened into something akin to respect. "Be sure to stay out here until you stop bleeding and the blood dries."

At Finn's nod, she continued, "Finn, I want you to call if you ever need anything. I'm now your only real contact who knows what happened to you. Even if you just need some tips on your abilities. When you reach Azalea, I'll make sure to have Bugsy talk with you about his own experiences. Just the same, I'm also going to work on procuring a pokédex for you so that you don't have to share with the other boys. I would rather you not be without a means of communication."

He was starting to get used to people doing things for him, so he only stammered out a thanks before Clair, in an act that shocked him, pulled him into a tight hug.

"Take care of yourself, Finn. You get into entirely too much trouble," Clair released him from the hug. "You should consider increasing the frequency in which you collect badges. As of now, I would rank Felix solidly at the fourth badge level. If you don't hurry it up, I will start feeling bad for the trainers in your badge tier that you face on the routes. In fact, I might have to let Bugsy know not to take it easy on you."

Finally, the League owned gardevoir began to shimmer in an outline of purple light, and with a quick wave goodbye, the Gym leader vanished from sight.

* * *

"FINN!" a shout came from the inside of the Pokémon Center as Finn feigned a slight limp, moving past the electronic doors.

Cameron nearly crashed into him in his haste, his lotad hopping over next to him.

Finn affected a tired voice, "Hey there, Cam. It's been a minute, huh?"

He hated lying like this, but what choice did he have? He'd have to put on a bit of a show.

"You're hurt! Let's get you looked at," he said, concern marring his features.

Finn shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Nothing a few days won't heal. I will get my pokémon looked at though."

After going over his xatu story with the younger trainer, they were forced to go find a way to reach out to the rangers that were searching for him out in the ruins. Apparently, Helen and Jonah were out helping with the search as well. They'd sent Cameron back to the Center just in case Finn found his way back there.

"Felix evolved?" Cameron shouted. "Let me see him!"

Finn released the piloswine next to him, who basked in the astonished ministrations of the other trainer.

Minutes later, Cameron was shaking in relief when a ranger on top of a fearow swooped past a streetlight and landed before them. Finn shot his friend a quick

glance. He imagined that the whole ordeal had weighed heavily on Cameron. It had been his first time out on the routes, and someone had gone missing.

"Please recall your piloswine, sir," the ranger said. "I'm Ranger Trenton Byres, am I to presume that you are the missing trainer, Finn Abernathy?"

"I am, thank you for looking for me, sir," said Finn, meekly.

Once again, Finn was forced to recount his fictional tale of being abducted by a flock of xatu, who'd teleported him to their nesting grounds. It was only through the heroism of Finn's pokémon that he'd returned alive.

"I was so tired that I honestly don't think that I could navigate you back there," said Finn with exaggerated exhaustion.

As the ranger began filling out the incident report on his pokédex, a small beep came from the device, and the man scrunched up his face in confusion.

"This is saying that information related to your trainer profile is restricted?"

' _Well shit_ ,' thought Finn. ' _Of course, something like this would come up_.'

"That's weird, I guess you'll just have to take that up with the League then?" said Finn, his face scrunched up in confusion.

Cameron's expression curled in confusion, seemingly able to tell that something was off. Finn cursed his shitty acting skills.

"Humph, we'll just have to finish the interview another time after I look this up," the ranger said, shaking his head.

"Thanks again for looking for me," said Finn.

The ranger told them that he'd put a halt to the search party. Part of him was comforted that there was a search party at all. Half of the time trainers went missing in the wild, nobody even noticed.

Apparently, it would take Jonah and Helen two days to get back from where they were searching, but Finn felt like he owed it to the two older trainers to greet them before they parted ways.

The first day, Finn waved off Cameron, saying that he needed to train alone with his team after the ordeal with the xatu. He found a clearing north of the ruins that was suitably far from the main routes and then he released his entire team before him.

Dixie squawked and shot over to Felix to inspect her newly evolved teammate. To Finn's shock, the psychic energy stemming from Benedict was that of happiness as the two remaining exeggcute heads stared at Felix, apparently joyful that his friend had gained his next form.

"Benny! You're recovering!" Finn laughed.

' _Finally, things were going right_.'

It was only due to Finn's new senses that he could feel the undercurrent of sadness in Benedict.

Loss and unfulfilled potential were the impressions that swirled around in Finn's head.

His exeggcute was scared of being left behind. Despite those thoughts, Finn was overjoyed that Benedict was finally beginning to heal. The treatments were working. He could even make out two small spherical protrusions coming from each of his pokémon's heads, which could only be newly developing egg-bodies.

Quake barely gave Felix a second glance, and hissed at Dixie, lobbing a small rock at his combusken's head.

"Enough! None of that!" Finn shouted down at the larvitar, whose gaze turned thoughtful as he took in his trainer for the first time since he'd gained his type abilities.

Quake was giving Finn a look of utmost curiosity. As larvitar were rock-ground types, he and Finn shared a same-type connection that only Felix understood to any degree. Finn's new gifts reached out, able to assess the ground type essences circulating around his larvitar's body. He could only hope that this would make training the stubborn creature a little easier.

"I've undergone a bit of a change. If you try really hard, you can probably feel it" said Finn, addressing his four pokémon. "Hopefully this will help us communicate better, and I've heard that, over time, you all might experience a closer tie to ground type energy than you would have otherwise."

Finn playfully kicked at Felix, who was trying to arrange himself in a position to lay on his feet.

It was time for Finn to try and implement a training strategy he'd been thinking about after seeing Felix and Dixie's improvement after the battle in Violet. Prolonged use of singular moves greatly increased a pokémon's endurance and ability to use the move. It seemed so simple, but his combusken had used ember so many times against the bugs that it was closer to a flamethrower now. Finn's plan was to make sure that Dixie could handle the full flamethrower move.

Over the next two hours he put his team through their paces. Felix was ordered to practice bulldoze until he could bulldoze no more. The hope was that eventually, the overuse of bulldoze would make it so Felix could learn the strongest ground type move that was legal in tournament competitions: earthquake. Finn didn't expect anything for a long time, but a start was a start.

He'd wanted to give icicle crash a shot, but figured that it was important to solidify his partner's gains from the previous day with the ground move.

When the day was done, Dixie had made her breakthrough and was able to use flamethrower in short bursts. Her determination in training was something to behold. His combusken, normally introverted, became a machine in practice and battle.

Quake actually followed through on Finn's instructions, and practiced pulling stones from underneath the earth and tossing them as far as his stubby arms would allow, creating a large pile of rock not far away. The size of what he was able to pull from the ground increased as the training session went forward.

Finn even had Benedict start to practice. Earlier in the day, he'd knelt down next to the duo-head exeggcute and brandished a small pebble in his palm.

"Benny, if you're up to it I want you to hold this pebble in the air for as long as you're able. If you get too tired, feel free to stop and just enjoy the sun," he said, hoping that including Benedict in the drills would alleviate some of the exeggcute's insecurity about being left behind.

Benedict held the pebble for a full hour.

Finn was a full participant in practice. He spent much of it meditating and absorbing ground essence from the earth below, adding it to his core. Other times, he performed exercises while helping his team with their practice.

He wondered if he'd ever stop marveling at the transformation he'd gone through. During one session, he hadn't grown fatigued even after an hour of holding a plank position.

Two full days of training flew by, including his new endurance unit in the morning, and accuracy and move training later in the evening.

* * *

Jonah and Helen had arrived.

Finn and Cameron had been doing some basic move training with his lotad behind the Pokémon Center when an overenthusiastic lucario sprinted up to the two trainers, exceedingly happy to see Finn alive.

"Finn!" a matronly voice called over. Helen and a tired looking Jonah walked up, before the blonde woman pulled him into a hug.

"Hey, you two. It's good to see you," said Finn, his voice muffled up against Helen's trainer jacket. Once more, a pang of guilt shot through Finn's gut as he prepared himself to lie.

"Goodness, you're alive!" said Jonah, his eyes taking in the healing wound on Finn's face. "They told us that it was a xatu?"

"I almost didn't believe it! Xatu aren't known to do that, but in the ruins, the normal rules go out the window don't they?" he said, rambling.

Finn gave a bitter smile. "I guess… but it forced Felix to evolve, so I'm not going to complain too much. I hope you guys didn't freak out too much?"

Helen laughed. "Oh, we were a wreck searching for you. You should've seen this one," she said, pointing over to Jonah. "After we'd forced you to carry all of our stuff for _days_ , we go and lose you!"

Finn let out a small chuckle. "Well, you're right about that! But what about the ruin? Did you have any time to study it?"

"Well, our first priority was obviously finding you, Finn," said Jonah. "But we did search extensively inside the ruin itself, and we couldn't help but take note of the glyphs and symbols around us."

Helen interjected, "And once we heard you were safe, and were on our way back here, we attempted to sketch what we saw. How about we show you over lunch?"

The four trainers continued to chat in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria.

Jonah pushed a spiral notebook across the table for Finn and Cameron to look at.

"The symbols line up with what I remembered from before," said Jonah, excited. "We're going to regroup here and go back in the next few days."

"We'll have to find some new assistants to help us, that is, unless you two want to try for round two?" said Helen, with some hope in her voice.

Finn was busy deciphering the writings in the notebook. Some of it looked like crudely drawn humans near lightning bolts, swirl patterns, and trees. Near the beginning of the drawings, one particular picture caught Finn's eye. It was a human stick figure next to what may have been a raindrop. Jonah had scribbled a handwritten note that said, 'water element?'

What interested Finn was what went after the drop. A symbol similar to a zero with a stick figure man in it. Then there was a triangle, like the platform he'd landed on in Sinjoh. Could that mean what FInn thought it might mean?

"I have to get back to Violet, unfortunately. My friends are expecting me," said Finn, still thinking about the image. "I will say that I learned a lot from you both, and I hope we run into each other again."

The group continued their pleasant chat, and decided that they'd part ways the next morning.

After checking yet again, the smeargle trainer still hadn't responded, which Finn thought was a poor sign. He would just have to keep waiting for a few days more.

Before the group left, Finn left some parting words for the archeologists.

"I had a thought while I was looking at your drawings. Some of the glyphs on the ruins looked like water droplets. But what if at least some of them represented something else? What if they were drops of blood?"

He figured that his cryptic hint to the two archeologists wouldn't quite get him in trouble with the higher ups. For all Finn knew, blood had nothing to do with what happened to him.

Finn and Cameron had a productive trip back to Violet. Cameron had beaten enough trainers to be able to afford some items, and was able to catch a puppy growlithe. Spending the rest of their journey taming the rambunctious fire type pokémon was adorable.

As the two entered the Violet city, and neared the Pokémon Center after more than a week of being gone, Finn turned to the other trainer. "Cameron, I've enjoyed traveling with you, and I hope that my disappearance didn't dissuade you from trying the Gym circuit out on your own. I think that Lotad is well on his way to beating a tier one Gym, and I'm sure you'll do just fine with Growlithe."

Cameron shuffled his feet a bit, and looked over at Finn. "Ho-oh, I don't think I've ever owed someone more in my life. With two strong pokémon, I'll finally be able to leave home. Lotad's getting stronger every day."

"That's what happens," Finn chuckled, ignoring the deeper parts of what was said, and then continued, "You've got my 'dex number if you ever need me. I hope that the next time I see you we'll be able to battle properly."

Two days later, Finn typed his information into the trading kiosk at the Pokémon Center, and actually got a result.

' _That's perfect Finn, I've initiated the trade. Take good care of mareanie!'_

Finn couldn't help but be surprised, after days went by without a word from the other trainer, he'd expected the trade to remain unfulfilled. Without hesitation Finn pushed the 'Accept Trade' button, and finalized the trade.

He left a message.

' _Thank you! I look forward to seeing your art one day._ '

He trained his eyes on the blue and red greatball in his hands. He had another teammate to train. Another partner to provide for. Hopefully, this pokémon would become the defensive behemoth he dreamed that it could be.

Finn was just about to head to the training area at the center to meet his new pokémon, when he noticed a red exclamation icon in the 'Messages' area of his trainer profile.

' _Hey Finn! We pretty much had no service the entire time we were in the valley, but we're almost back to Violet! Come meet us at the south entrance and we'll head to Azalea! Sorry it took so long._ '

It was from Alan and Orion. They'd returned from the Charicific valley.

Finn had no trouble exiting the city, and was patiently waiting for his friends at the spot where Route 32 extended south from the city's walls. It went past the Ruins of Alph until reaching Union cave, where they'd have to make the multi-day journey through the pitch black of the cavern until they reached Route 33, just days from Azalea. All in all, it would probably take the trio two weeks to reach their destination.

The sun was fully overhead when his friends finally made it. They exchanged exuberant greetings before Finn demanded, "Well, come off it guys! Let's see them!"

The two teens shared a conspiratorial look, before dropping two pokéballs onto the ground before him.

Finn was glad that the two appeared to have gotten along well on their traveling trip. He'd been somewhat worried that they'd come back as enemies considering how different their training styles were.

In a flash of light, two nearly identical forms took shape. Standing at around two feet tall, the brightly orange scaled lizards chirped at one another. One yawned, and proceeded to extend itself into a lying position on the ground for a nap, the fire on its tail burning brightly. The other turned with a harsh glare at Finn's brown-haired friend.

Orion laughed, and scratched his head, embarrassed. "Yeah, he doesn't like me too much yet. But don't you worry, I'll turn this guy into, like, the best dragon there is!"

The charmander in question blew a cloud of smoke into its trainer's face.

Finn couldn't help but be amused. He'd had plenty of experience with unruly pokémon. On a whim, Finn decided to show off a bit, and took out Felix's ball.

"Check this out."

* * *

Finn pulled his shirt up to his face to wipe away the sweat out of his eyes.

The trio was almost to Azalea, and the cool mornings that the group had enjoyed just south of Violet, and throughout their journey through Union cave had given way to the tepid, humid, and lush forests of Route 33. After the first couple of days, Finn's constant urge to shower had faded into a lingering annoyance. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the sensation.

The three trainer's training had gone well. Each of their pokémon had improved while they were on the road. Finn's newest pokémon was a docile mareanie, who wasn't quite used to battling outside of water yet. He'd taken to releasing her any time they found a water source, just to try to acclimatize her to being above ground. The marine creature was willing to try though, which Finn took as an encouraging sign.

During the trip, Finn's only complaint was that he had to find time to practice his type abilities in secret, and it was proving more and more difficult to do. So hard in fact, that Finn was beginning to think that he might have to start considering traveling as a solo trainer. He couldn't let up on his training, otherwise he might have a lapse in control and someone could get hurt. Both Orion and Alan had noticed that Finn was quite obviously never as tired as they were after a day of travel. It sucked not being able to tell his friends, but he was bound by the League.

Lighting the way through Union cave had been a cinch with two charmander, and a combusken. Even so, Finn was grateful that his endurance training had paid off so well, because Dixie's ability to keep her flames going had allowed the two pre-evolved charmander some time to rest.

"I'm so happy we're almost there. Air conditioning here we come!" said Alan, his newly evolved breloom walking at his side. "Humans weren't meant to endure this much water in the air. We might as well be swimming!"

His breloom, who appeared to love the moisture, whacked his tail against his trainer's backside. The mushroom pokémon's personality had undergone a major shift after evolution, from dopey to sarcastic.

"Enough of that, you!" said Alan, clearly at the edge of his patience.

Dixie's twittering laughter was enough for the blonde to get even more annoyed. Alan was about to lash out more when Orion interrupted, "Aw, cool it, Alan. We're almost there anyway."

The older teen had Drake out walking with them. The grass type had also taken well to the new climate.

It was then that they ran into a trainer wandering down the road.

At first, Finn didn't really recognize him, but when the person walked past the shade of a tree and into the light, his eyes widened in surprise.

Long red hair. Confident smirk. It was Silver.

* * *

 **AN:** Whelp, that's Chapter 14 in the books. A bit of a transition chapter, but there's plenty of action to come! I'd love to hear from any of you either via PM or review!

 **Finn:  
** Felix - Piloswine  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
Quake – Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken  
Mareanie

 **Orion:  
** Darya - Horsea  
Magikarp  
Drake - Grovyle  
Tufts - Flaffy  
Charmander

 **Alan:  
** Phanpy  
Breloom  
Luxio  
Charmander


	15. A Rival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Here we are! Three chapters in one month! I think that's a record for me. Big thanks to my beta Noxy88!
> 
> As usual, hit me up if you notice some spelling/grammar mistakes, or even if you just want to talk about the story.

**Chapter 15: A Rival**

Finn stepped forward.

Normally, it was Alan who was the first to initiate battles against the traveling trainers they passed by on the routes, using those battles as a substitute for the shorter training sessions his team underwent each morning. This time, however, Finn felt like he had something to prove against the Cherrygrove runner-up.

"Long time no see," Finn said, tilting his head towards the red-haired trainer in acknowledgment.

Silver paused, his face quietly bewildered. "Do we know each other?" he said, a slight edge to his voice.

It wasn't unusual for trainers to have a gruffness about them, especially those who were traveling alone. Aside from the ever-present danger of wild pokémon, solo trainers had to worry about muggings, finding safe places to sleep, among other things. They also tended to be the more introverted types who preferred to be on their own.

In this case, Finn couldn't help but feel incredulous. Of course that asshole wouldn't remember him.

"Really, you don't remember our match back in Blackthorn?" said Finn, allowing a small half-smile to form on his face as he remembered his first real win as a trainer. "I was hoping you'd like a rematch?"

At the mention of Blackthorn, Silver's eyes widened in recognition.

"Huh, I guess I do remember something like that," said Silver bemused, before he smirked. "I didn't see you at Cherrygrove, so I just figured you were a fluke. I mean, how many badges do you have anyway?"

Finn felt a touch of frustration as Silver rebuffed his challenge. He growled out, "I only have one badge for now, but it doesn't matter. We're both rookies this year and have trained for about the same amount of time. What do you say to a two-on-two?"

Noticing Finn's impatience, Silver egged on, "Well, _I_ already have three badges, so I'm not sure it's worth my time to face down some chump."

Finn's eyes narrowed. "I'll show you who's a chump. Let's waive the plus one requirement and battle already."

Silver's smirk grew into an unsettling grin. "You're on, it's your money."

Finn didn't understand why, but something about Silver made his hackles raise. It wasn't even that the other trainer was rude. He'd met plenty of cocksure trainers while traveling. Maybe it was the sheer smugness of the other teen.

The two trainers faced each other, looking across the hard-packed dirt that comprised the trail on the heavily trafficked route. Alan and Orion stood off to the side, opting to act as referees for the match. Breloom and Drake hovered nearby, one curious, the other indifferent to the battle.

Finn took the minute that he had before the fight started to think. He remembered that the arrogant trainer had a powerful cyndaquil that took Blackberry Street by storm, defeating trainer after trainer until he fell to a combination of Benedict's hypnosis attack and some of Felix's mud slaps. By now, who knew how powerful the fire type had become.

Sadly, Finn only really had two battling options at the moment. Quake was out of the question. His larvitar would cause too much of a fuss, and Silver was a sketchy character at best. His new mareanie, Aegis, continued to struggle with training outside of the ocean, although she'd made decent progress recently. Lastly, Benedict was still recovering from the bug attack.

He'd have to use Felix and Dixie—but which to use first?

Behind Finn, one of Dixie's talons was incessantly tapping on the ground, a surefire sign that she was antsy to get started. The only problem was that Dixie had already been outside of her pokéball when Silver had walked up, so unfortunately the other trainer had an advantage of seeing part of his team. If he wanted any element of surprise, he'd have to go with his piloswine.

To their left, Orion called out, "Ready! Set!" both trainers put their hands on one of their pokéballs, indicating their first selection. "Battle!"

Felix appeared with a loud trumpeting noise, raising one of his dual-clawed feet, and stomping it into the ground in anticipation.

He still couldn't help but be proud of what his starter had become. After evolution, he'd surpassed Dixie as his team's strongest member, and not by a small margin. The swine pokémon's bulldoze could one-shot most wild pokémon they found, and his icy wind was becoming especially formidable. Felix was powerfully built, and this physicality was tough for any opponent.

That wasn't all though. His starter had become a leader for the team, taking time to corral Quake if he became too snarky or to encourage Benedict as he struggled to heal.

Across the route, Silver's choice materialized.

It was horrifying.

Seemingly growing from the ground, a dark purple cloud of miasma coalesced into a rictus of a smile. Its teeth were jaggedly sharp, and two abnormally large sets of claws served as arms for the haunter. The creature opened its jaws and let out an almost human cackle of laughter.

"Haunter, confuse ray," said Silver.

' _Aw shit, this guy uses status effects_ ,' though Finn, trying to decide what strategy to use.

Finn took a moment to reach out with his type ability, sensing the energy of the battlefield. The ground was incredibly hard packed, and he thought that there was a chance that Felix might have some difficulty burying himself underground if he needed to.

Although, it was their best shot.

"Underground, now," said Finn, hoping the terrain wouldn't be as big of a problem as he'd originally thought. "Try to distract it with bulldoze."

Felix surprised him and was able to move well within the hard dirt. Even so, it was almost comical how the piloswine buried himself. Since Felix couldn't use a true dig attack yet, his largest hump was still exposed to the air like an island of brown fur in the center of the route.

The ray of ghostly energy struck, and Finn was able to reach out with his type ability to sense how Felix was faring. Through the connection Finn could vaguely discern that his starter had taken some mental trauma, but there was an icy determination that told him Felix was far from out of the fight.

The dirt around Felix warped, and a five-foot-tall wave of earth erupted from in front of him and shot across the field towards the ghost-poison type.

Now, Finn wasn't stupid. He'd watched enough of Morty's gym battles to know that the gastly line was invulnerable to ground type moves. What he was doing was hopefully blocking his pokémon from view for long enough so that Felix could perform his newest fully formed technique.

Since leaving Violet and solidifying bulldoze in Felix's arsenal, they'd worked extensively on perfecting icicle crash. The move had been too difficult for him to learn as a swinub, but in his evolved form, the piloswine was able to form wickedly sharp icicles attached to his tusks. The only problem was that he still needed a few seconds to prepare before initiating the technique, thus the bulldoze attack.

"Icicle crash!" called Finn.

At the same time, Silver said, "Shadow Punch."

The haunter only stopped momentarily before phasing right through Felix's bulldoze, dematerializing and appearing right next to his pokémon. Luckily, the distracting wave of earth waylaid the ghost just long enough for Felix, who'd been working on his icicle crash all the while, to violently whip his head around, crushing the shards of ice into the ghost type's side. Upon contact, the haunter shrieked in pain and parts of its ephemeral body seemed to fade, becoming a lighter shade of purple.

After a moment of recovery, the haunter's ghostly fist smashed into Felix's side, eliciting a rough grunt from his starter.

"Icy wind, slow it down while it's close. Then, another icicle crash!"

"Knock it off Haunter, use lick!"

It was then that Finn realized that Silver's haunter's only damage dealing moves were close range. He could work with that.

The haunter was fast. Closing in on Felix just as a cloud of ice and snow blasted from his pokémon's jaws. Felix shuddered when the long pink tongue raked the side of his body.

His pokémon was visibly frustrated by the speedy ghost, and he put that anger into his icy wind, which violently blasted the haunter back towards its trainer.

At one point, when the haunter had been close to Felix, Finn was able to reach out and feel the monster with his type ability. It was confusing. The area around the pokémon was like a negative space to his senses, having no connection to the earth whatsoever. That must have been why its species was immune to ground attacks.

Unfortunately, Felix's formed icicle crash had no opponent to run into for the haunter was back on Silver's side of the field. Finn took the second he had to scan the haunter for damage. The icy wind had caused the ghost's color to dim a few more shades, and it was panting heavily.

Felix was not undamaged. The muscles along his right side were spasming in the place where the ghost's tongue had landed.

Across the battlefield, Silver's eyes went from his pokémon to Felix, and hardened.

"Curse!"

Off to the side, one of his friends let out a rude expletive.

The haunter cackled again in delight at the command, its left hand glowing a deep red.

Felix reacted without prompting by his trainer. He could feel Finn's anxiety over the oncoming attack through the link they shared, and moved of his own volition.

His starter cracked the two sharp icicles protruding from his tusks, and bucked his forelegs forwards in a kick, sending the pieces of ice shooting towards the haunter.

' _Was that an ice shard attack?_ ' thought Finn excitedly. The super-fast move was apparently quite hard for the swinub line to learn.

Just as the shards were about to impact the haunter, the ghost's glowing red hand sharply sliced across its own neck, causing the pokémon to fade into a barely discernible shadow.

As Silver recalled his pokémon, a sinister red light enveloped Felix, causing the swine pokémon to begin panting heavily in exertion. The twitching on his flank from the lick attack doubled in intensity, eliciting a gasp in pain from Felix.

What was worse was that Finn could sense how hurt his starter was. The curse was insidious, spreading throughout his starter's body. Finn almost thought that the curse was testing the edges of his and Felix's connection, trying to infect him as well.

Finn heard Alan call out, "What the hell man, nobody lets their pokémon use curse in battle?"

Silver laughed. "There's no rule against it though, is there? C'mon out Quilava!"

The second evolution of the fire type species that Professor Elm handed out each year to his scholarship students appeared by its trainer. Flames swirled around its neck and hindquarters. The creature was easily four times bigger than it had been as a cyndaquil.

This was the most high-level battle that Finn had been in since the emergence of his type abilities, and Felix had never been this hurt. He wasn't sure what to do. Even though he could tell that Felix was still unwavering in his desire to battle, the pain stemming from the curse forced Finn's hand.

"Great work Felix, take a break!" he said, aiming his pokéball to recall his pokémon. "Dixie, you're up."

His combusken's demeanor changed to excitement in a flash, and was standing at the ready in seconds. It was curious that this battle would be a contest between the scholarship starters from Johto and Hoenn.

"I never did ask how you got that quilava of yours. Did you rank top three in Johto?" Finn asked.

The other teen ignored Finn, and ordered his pokémon. "Quilava, quick attack!"

Faster than Finn could follow, the opposing quilava dashed towards Dixie and slammed into her side, knocking her to the ground.

' _Damnit, if he'd been paying better attention rather than trying to start a conversation during the battle Dixie would've been ready for that_!'

The battle was going to be atypical. Fire type moves wouldn't be effective, so Dixie's ace attack, flamethrower, would be nearly useless.

"Dixie, quick attack! Get your speed up, then double kick."

Dixie blurred and barreled herself into the quilava, who gritted its teeth and hissed, slinking left and right with its weasel-like body. Dixie pivoted herself, performing a double spinning kick, impacting her opponent, who was sent sprawling to the ground.

"Flame charge!"

"Quick attack Dixie!"

With nimbleness that surprised Finn after such a fierce combo attack, the quilava rolled itself into a ball of flame and hurled its spinning body at Dixie. His pokémon, whose speed had been slowly quickening as the battle went on, was clipped on her right side by the attack, twirling her body in a pirouette. She righted herself before launching another quick attack.

By this time, both pokémon were breathing heavily. Dixie was letting out high-pitched squeaks with each exhalation.

'You've got this Dixie, get in there for another double kick!"

Silver was beginning to see the writing on the wall with his pokémon's diminishing endurance and Dixie resisting most of his pokémon's attacks. A crease of frustration appeared on the red-haired trainer's forehead as he thought through his next steps.

"Dodge it!" said Silver. "Prepare for our new move!"

Nearing her top speeds, Dixie almost teleported next to her opponent, striking out with her talons in a fast double kick.

Quilava attempted to jump back to avoid the attack, but was hit by the second kick. Dixie embellished on Finn's commands, lunging forward with her beak extended in a peck attack before sprinting away from the quilava who looked to be preparing for something.

The muscles under the quilava's dark fur flexed in preparation, and a spark of electricity danced across the fire type's back.

' _Oh, what's this?_ ' thought Finn.

Before Finn could call out another attack command, Silver's pokémon wildly hurled itself across the field, electricity arcing along its entire body.

Dixie had felt the spike of nervousness from her trainer and was ready for the incoming attack. She used her increased speed and a quick attack to move to the right side of the field, while the quilava's body skipped across the dirt like a stone over a pond, shocking itself badly.

The fire type didn't get up. Silver's pokémon was bleeding where its skin had scraped along the ground after the unsuccessful wild charge.

It was an attack that he'd only seen in high-level battles in Gyms or at the Conference, and even then the user usually took some damage. Silver's quilava was clearly not trained to the point where it could safely harness the powerful electric type move.

Finn didn't feel elation at beating Silver. He didn't feel good at all. Those moves that the other trainer was using had hurt his own pokémon.

"Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you," asked Orion, face scrunched up in anger. Finn didn't blame him.

Silver recalled his starter and turned away from the outraged pair of trainers that had refereed the match. He walked over to Finn and held out some cash.

Absently Finn took it, before saying, "Man, I'm not one to tell other trainers what to do, but think about your quilava next time you use that move."

"Mind your own business," said Silver, snidely. "My pokémon was just too exhausted to use it properly, otherwise you'd have lost. Quilava will have it mastered next time we battle—There will be a next time."

Alan walked up at that point. "If I ever see you torturing your pokémon with a dangerous move outside their skill level again, you better believe I'll be calling the Rangers."

Silver briskly walked past his blonde friend, knocking him in the shoulder and continued down the route.

Finn, Alan, and Orion shared a look of disgust.

That guy had issues.

The trio walked for an hour or so before the beginnings of Azalea could be seen on the horizon. From their higher vantage point, the view was stunning. Situated in a circular clearing, walls two stories high surrounded the relatively small town. All around Azalea were orchards full of green, red, and blue apricorn trees. Beyond the town, as far as the eye could see was a vast forest.

"I still can't get over how messed up that guy was. He had to have used a TM right?" said Alan, looking over at Finn and Orion.

"It's common sense not to teach hyper beam to a rattata, and everyone knows it," said Orion, continuing the rant. "He either doesn't care about his team, or was _way_ overconfident."

At this, Finn chimed in, "Guys, we don't know _anything_ about him, or his team. Don't get me wrong, he's an asshole, but we all train really hard and push our teams to be better. For all we know, his quilava is normally able to use that move." Finn scratched at the dark stubble that had formed on his chin during their days of travel. "And he was right about the curse attack—just because Morty and Agatha have never used the move in public matches, doesn't mean it's illegal to do so."

"But that's it! If Morty and Agatha won't do it—and they're the best ghost type specialists in the country—then it must be wrong!" said Alan, with exasperation.

"I gotta side with Alan on this one, man," said Orion. "That guy was bad news."

As the route continued meandering down a hillside towards the town, the group passed by what looked like a large cave opening into the hill itself. Just outside, a man with graying hair was stretching his legs, as if he was going to go for a jog. The man was around fifty years old, and was wearing a light blue workout outfit. Clipped to his belt were four intricately designed pokéballs.

"Oh, hello there," he called softly over to the trio.

Upon seeing the man, Finn was distracted for a moment, causing him to trip on a loose stone on the route. He barely caught his balance in time to reply to the man.

"Hello, sir. How's the route been?" said Finn, embarrassed over his almost fall. He glanced over at his friends. "We've got to be pretty close to town now, right guys?"

With a grave nod, the man said, "Yes, it's about thirty minutes to town from here. As for the route—that remains to be seen."

"What do you mean?" asked Orion.

"The slowpoke in the rivers and lakes around here have gone missing," he said. "They have just up and disappeared. This cave here leads to the well that feeds Azalea most of its water. It also happens to be where a lot of slowpoke breed. I'm going to investigate."

At that, the man dropped the green and white pokéball with yellow spots around the sensor, and out emerged a rather large slowbro.

"Heh, well good luck," said Alan. "We'd offer to help, but we've been out on the routes for over a week and a shower is calling my name."

"Think nothing of it, son." The man beckoned his slowbro to follow him. "Enjoy your time in Azalea."

As the man disappeared into the well Finn turned to his friends. "We didn't even get his name, huh?"

Finn could not overstate how wonderful reaching the Pokémon Center was. After all these months on traveling, he was psychologically conditioned to feel euphoria upon seeing the distinctive red roof of the pokémon hospital. It meant that it was time to sleep and to clean away the grime from the road.

Upon reaching the Joy at the reception desk, Finn paid for a three-person room for the week. Finn's first payment from the League had come in, and he was splurging. While he hadn't told his friends about his new windfall, he claimed a preemptive celebration for completing the two-badge requirement before the year was up.

Hours later, a refreshed trio of trainers signed up for time slots for a second tier Gym battle against Bugsy. The bug type master's wait time was only two days, so Finn, Alan, and Orion all decided to train on their own time until the day came.

Finn had some thinking to do. Bugsy liked to challenge trainers to three-on-three matches, and Finn didn't really have three pokémon that he was able to use in that kind of challenge.

He was about to gather some supplies to go train in the forest, when Orion barged into their room.

"Finn, someone's calling for you!" he said, voice breathy from having clearly run up the stairs.

Finn picked up the device and spoke, "Hello, this is Finn."

"Mr. Abernathy, it's good to get in touch," said a distinctively androgynous voice, before whispering. "Are you alone right now?"

He looked up at Orion and made a shooing motion with his hands and mouthed 'sorry' to the other trainer.

"I am now. Can I assume this is you, Leader Bugsy?"

"You sure can," the bug trainer said, "I've been made aware of your condition by our mutual acquaintance in Blackthorn, and have been monitoring my challenge log until you arrived. I'd like to extend my congratulations on reaching your type core, so early as well. Also, I would like to take you on a short training trip, to train yourself just as much as your team."

Finn's eyebrows were in trouble of being lost underneath his dark bangs. "Sir, thank you, but are you sure? It's the middle of the League season, can you afford to be away from the Gym?"

"Oh, we'll only be gone until tomorrow morning. There's no need to worry about my schedule. Meet me at the east exit of the city in an hour, and we'll get going."

The phone clicked.

Finn felt decidedly odd as he walked towards the eastern exit to Azalea. He'd been forced to tell his friends that Bugsy wanted to see his larvitar in action in order to waylay any questions.

Personal training with a Gym leader? It was something that Finn's wildest dreams were made of, and he couldn't help but be excited.

' _Make nice with as many type users as you can._ ' Clair had said.

Finn was so lost to his thoughts that he barely had time to take in the scenery of Azalea. Towering pines and all manner of ferns lines the streets. Most of the buildings were wooden, with few exceptions. It was a style within the town to have steep roofs that criss-crossed where they met at the ridge, extending to small points.

While Finn waited at the edge of town he had Aegis out of her ball. Spray bottle in hand, Finn tried to help his newest pokémon feel more comfortable outside of the water.

"How're you doing today, Aegis?" asked Finn, spraying some water onto the starfish-like pokémon.

The water-poison type was quite small, at only a little over a foot in height. She had ten purple and sky blue barbed tentacles trailing down from the top of her body. Her pendulous purple head and torso hung in-between her limbs, protected from outside attacks by the powerful appendages. A pointy yellow horn protruded from the crown of Aegis' head.

The creature cooed affectionately at him, and like a spider, maneuvered her way over to him. The leg in front of her face was shorter than the others, allowing Finn to glimpse her adorably large yellow and blue eyes and sharp teeth.

"Alright, you _do_ look better today. Do you think we'll try some training out later?"

Even though he'd only had Aegis for a short while, his type abilities allowed him to faintly grasp that his pokémon was willing.

"My goodness, is that a mareanie?" asked Bugsy, walking over. "I haven't seen one of those in a while."

Finn pulled up from his crouch. "Yep, this here is Aegis. My newest teammate," he said, smiling down at the creature. "She's not quite used to living outside of the ocean yet, are you Aegis?"

Aegis wrapped one of her tentacles around his leg, and Finn had to force himself not to fear getting stung by one of her barbs.

"Well, she appears to be well on her way," said Bugsy. "And so must we be, if we'd like to get anything done!"

The two began walking and were soon shadowed by the soaring canopy of Ilex forest. Bugsy led him away from the standard route, and onto a sparsely used foot-trail where thick foliage made it difficult to keep an eye out for predators. It was only the dangerous presence of Bugsy's scizor, Axel, that calmed Finn's nerves.

"Where are we going?" asked Finn, after twenty minutes of walking.

The trees were growing even more massive, and the bug type trainer showed no signs of slowing down.

"Oh, just enjoy the scenery Finn!" singsonged Bugsy. "The majesty of the forest knows no bounds. Ah, here we are—."

Moments later, they emerged from the underbrush into a small clearing. Wildflowers of every kind imaginable were in full bloom. Towards the back of the clearing there was an ornate wooden construction.

Intricately carved beams held together a twenty-foot raised platform. Above, a red and blue tiled roof met at the ridge like swords crossing in battle.

"It's something else, isn't it?" said Bugsy. "This shrine was built for a mythical pokémon that has been said can heal even the gravest of wounds—even death."

"How have I never heard of such a myth?" asked Finn, peering curiously at the beautiful shrine. "You'd think a pokémon that could do that would have a big following."

Bugsy's gaze was fixed on the building as well, almost in reverence. "Not many still come here. There's only a handful of people left in Azalea who continue to manage the upkeep. This will be our first stop on your introductory tour of the Ilex forest!"

Not for the first time was Finn reminded that Bugsy was only a few years older than he was. The bug trainer held a youthful exuberance to him that many of the older more veteran trainer's he'd met seemed to lack.

"What would you have me do? The meditation technique that Reginald taught me?"

"So eager are you? C'mon, follow me," said Bugsy, who traipsed across the clearing towards the shrine.

Finn followed the Gym leader towards the construction. A ladder was there for easy access to the platform above.

Bugsy crouched low and then leapt twenty feet into the air and onto the platform above, the movement strangely reminiscent of a joltik's jump. At this he turned to Finn, and waved.

"Come on up!" he laughed. "Bug type users have some perks of their own!"

He tried not to look too impressed, but failed. Then, Finn easily maneuvered up the ladder, and asked, "Doesn't this feel—I don't know—wrong?" He looked around the shrine platform, where offerings of fruit and other trinkets were meticulously placed in bowls. "Like we're trespassing?"

There was a respect imbued into the placement of the items, intricacy of the carvings, and tidiness of the place.

"No, no, don't worry about that. People come here all of the time to pray, and to become _one_ with the forest. We will be doing something similar." Said Bugsy. "Now sit down like you do when you meditate."

Finn did as he was told, a bit unsure as to how this would even work. They were twenty feet above the ground, which was where the essence he would be trying to gather came from.

"Ground type users have it easy! The essence they need is everywhere! For me, the largest traces of bug essence only linger in places bug pokémon have made their homes for a long time. When I'm stuck in Azalea, I have to really work to gather even the barest of essence. Although training like that eventually makes you stronger, it's a large part of the reason I spent much of my journey out in the wilds."

That was interesting. It made Finn wonder about where some of the more esoteric types' essences might be found. Fairy types, dragon types, electric types—they all sounded like they might be hard to find.

"So this is going to be a bit of a challenge for you Finn. Release your ground type pokémon beside you. I always find it easier to focus when I have a large source of bug energy to focus on."

At this, the Gym leader released his scizor back out as well as a small caterpillar type pokémon that he'd never seen before. The creature had fuzzy white fur and red horns all along the crest of its head.

Bugsy saw Finn's gaze and nodded. "This guy is Kiln, my larvesta. I won't tell you how long I've been wanting to train one—took me all off-season and the one before that to find him."

Finn honestly wasn't sure what was so great about the pokémon, but he trusted the confident look the Gym leader bore.

He released Felix and Quake onto the platform.

"Okay, guys time to be serious. We're going to be doing some training up here. No falling off the side, and no rough-housing, okay," said Finn, a stern stare fixed upon Quake. "We'll be doing some meditation. That means stay still."

"A larvitar, how unexpected. You're full of surprises, huh?" said Bugsy. "Your piloswine looks to be in excellent shape as well. A recent evolution?"

At Finn's nod, he said, "Excellent. And to think that there will soon be a tyranitar trained by a ground type user. That should be something."

Sheepish, Finn replied. "Thanks—I don't know about soon. Quake here only hatched a couple of months ago."

"Well, maybe soon-ish would have been a more apt thing to say," said Bugsy. "Any-who, that's enough team admiration for now. I want you to focus on your pokémon. Concentrate on the energy that flows through their body, and then I want you to reach for it all around you. Ground essence will be hard to find up here, but it _is_ here. You just need to expand your ability and understanding of the type."

Finn set his jaw in determination, and focused.

At first, all he could feel was the chaotic swirling of ground and ice and rock coming from his pokémon partners. Larvitar was on the verge of sleep, and Felix was content to lay on the platform gazing out into the forest and keeping an eye on his rebellious brother.

There was very little ground essence in the air. The energy was so dispersed that Finn was struggling to collect even the smallest amount to bring into his body.

He concentrated downwards, like he normally would, trying to extend the range of his ability so he could reach the forest floor below them. It was like punching a brick wall. Nothing would be able to push the edge of his senses outwards.

Bugsy must have had him take his pokémon out for a reason, so Finn asserted his focus back onto them. A healthy thrum of energy whirled inside them. Where did so much ground energy come from? Was it internal?

Disrupting his thoughts, a gust of wind came up through the cracks in the wooden platform, but the platform didn't sway. It was stable.

Finn blinked and glanced over at the Gym leader who sat in a meditative pose. "There's nothing up here. All of my pokémons' essence comes from within themselves…" he said.

Lavender eyes opened. "Oh, does it? That's not where my bugs get _all_ of their essence from," said Bugsy with a small chuckle. "Look deeper Finn."

At this, Finn went back to it.

Icy energy, ground energy—it all moved throughout his piloswine. Finn concentrated on the outside of Felix's body, trying to see if any ground essence was entering his pokémon from other sources.

It was faint, but the barest trickle of light-brown essence was stemming from the platform around them.

How could that be? Finn was thinking furiously. The platform was made of wood. It was high in the air, and probably hadn't touched the earth in years. So what could it be?

Another gust of wind buffeted the shrine, and Finn heard the trees sway in the distance.

The breezy air gave Finn an idea. The platform was able to hold steady against the elements. It was stable just like the ground below him. The platform was made of wood, and trees were once connected to the earth and held firm by their roots. Maybe the platform held a more multifaceted connection to the ground type, and that was what created the essence.

As the concepts came together in Finn's mind, the trickle he'd seen around Felix thickened into a small stream. In moments, there was enough essence in the air for Finn to meditate.

Now, that certainly didn't mean that it was easy. This newly formed energy was more wisp-like and felt harder to collect somehow, as if Finn didn't understand it enough to fully take hold of it.

His meditation on the ground was certainly more productive, but this was something new entirely.

He pulled the energy into himself, and moved it throughout his body before it settled into his core. At this, a new sensation became known to him. It wasn't much, but he felt secure, more firm in his ability to remain on his own two feet.

He gasped. "I think I did it!"

Bugsy just smiled and nodded. "Now, keep going."

An hour passed with Finn deep in meditation, all the while firming his newfound conceptualization of what 'ground' actually meant. While the essence never gained the potency of what he could find below the platform, it gained something else, a meaning beyond just what he knew the words 'the earth' or 'the ground' to mean.

The ground type was stability made perfect, it was a cradle to protect plants from the elements, it was where life decayed until new life could form.

All of these ideas came alive when he condensed the misty light-brown energy into his core, granting Finn and enlightenment of sorts. He didn't feel like he had more knowledge, he just felt _more_. The energy within him sung with a sharper tune than before.

While the two trainers had been training, rain began to leak from the sky.

The wind he'd felt before had been the precursor for a storm. Eventually, a torrent fell from the sky and squalls of wind buffeted the structure interrupting even the most focused of meditation. Had the shrine not been as well made as it was, there would certainly have been rain streaming through leaks in the ceiling.

Quake was not happy with the water disrupting his slumber and he began pawing at Finn to recall him into his pokéball. Felix just used Finn as a shield from the wind, remaining a stalwart presence on the platform.

"Well this was unexpected, but we get big storms like this pretty often in the summer," said Bugsy. "We'll just have to ride it out here. Then, we can train your team up a bit."

Finn was a touch upset that the rain was causing him to miss out on critical training time with a Gym leader. Who knew how many opportunities like this he would get?

Bugsy eyed Finn's poorly hidden disdain for the weather, and said, "After we train, what would you say to an impromptu Gym match out here in the forest? I normally don't let trainers skip in line, but why don't we get this battle out of the way in the morning?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alright, the first rival battle and the into into the Azalea arc! Plus, we went over 100,000 words! Who would've expected that after my COVID hiatus? I'm pretty excited about this arc, as I have some ideas that I'm not sure have ever been used in the fandom before. I'm a bit worried about how it will go over, or if I'll be able to pull it off, but that's half the fun of writing this.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts via review or PM!
> 
> Finn:  
> Felix - Piloswine  
> Benedict - Exeggcute  
> Quake – Larvitar  
> Dixie - Combusken  
> Aegis - Mareanie
> 
> Orion:  
> Darya - Horsea  
> Magikarp  
> Drake - Grovyle  
> Tufts - Flaffy  
> Charmander
> 
> Alan:  
> Phanpy  
> Breloom  
> Luxio  
> Charmander


	16. Lessons from a Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This took a bit longer than I had hoped, but the past couple of weekends got busy. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions or spot any grammar issues.
> 
> Thanks again Noxy88 for betaing!

**Chapter 16:** Lessons from a Leader

It was calming sitting there just watching the rain come down over the forest from high above. He and Bugsy had been stranded at the shrine for over thirty minutes while waiting out the storm.

Finn had released Aegis so she could enjoy the occasional spray of water that coincided with each gust of wind. The water type let out a trill and leaned out over the edge to collect raindrops with her tentacles.

Benedict was also out of his pokéball and appeared to be in higher spirits than Finn had seen from the exeggcute in a while. Humming to himself, Benedict was using his psychic abilities to try and direct the rain away from his body.

The fact that his second pokémon wasn't in constant pain and could perform simple tasks again came as a huge relief to Finn. Each time he laid eyes on the two round protrusions growing out from Benedict's remaining heads, he couldn't help but be reminded of the stupid decision he'd made in Violet. It really showcased Benedict's resilience to see him continue dedicating himself to training each day.

Noticing his mareanie becoming a bit too enamored with the rain at the edge of the platform, he moved forward. "No, Aegis! Be careful," said Finn, carefully scooping her away.

Bugsy smiled as he took in the scene. "I doubt a twenty-foot fall would do much to a mareanie. They're crazy resilient," he said. "I fought one once—a toxapex, that is—in the Conference a couple of years back. I think that pokémon probably could've withstood a hyper beam from Gaius."

The bug type user was speaking of the largest of Lance's three dragonite. They were the trio of pokémon that secured his position as the head of the Pokémon League for the foreseeable future. Not even Lorelei in her prime, type advantage in hand, could match their ferocity in battle.

Finn was silent for a moment before he sat down at the edge of the platform, allowing his feet dangle out over the open air. In a move that surprised him since they were still getting to know one another, Aegis crawled over and curled up on his lap.

He looked up at the lavender haired Gym leader. "Do you have any advice for me?" asked Finn. "—About getting to the Conference. You did it at such a young age, and I just can't help but want to do the same."

"To be honest, unlocking my type core probably had a lot to do with it," said Bugsy. "The innate connection you form with your pokémon afterwards allows for an intuitive battle style that's hard to beat. Before that, I was stuck at the sixth Gym badge and was really struggling to progress. But then Axel and I formed a bond and all of the weird incidents that had occured throughout my journey suddenly made sense. The bond we shared helped unlock the potential in me. After that, a freaking volcarona swooped in and took me up to Reginald in Sinjoh. The creature was so awe inspiring that I spent the next few off-seasons looking for Kiln in Unova."

That made Finn think back to the caterpillar pokémon that Bugsy had out earlier that day, a larvesta.

"How'd you react to all of the League paperwork?" asked Finn, absently waving his hand out from underneath the roof, feeling the rain on his skin. "Some of the rules look like they might suck, but the benefits so far have been awesome. I mean, I could afford a private room at the Pokémon Center!"

Bugsy let out a soft chuckle. "That is one perk, yes. I'm not sure, though. Like you, I was pretty young when it happened. So far the League hasn't blocked my travel or imposed any of the more restrictive clauses, but it's made some of my personal relationships a touch more fragile than they should be," he said. "It's hard, you know, not sharing a big part of your life with the people who care about you."

At that, Finn couldn't help but feel some anxiety as he thought about the inevitable conversation he'd be having with Alan and Orion when they finally decided to call him out. He'd seen their suspicious looks after leaving Union Cave. While traveling through the cave Finn had been able to navigate the dark tunnel with ease by using his newfound senses, feeling the ground around him. Further, he'd never gotten winded, while his friends had been covered in sweat. All of that was without mentioning his newfound financial windfall and the pokédex that Clair said should be delivered at any time.

"I get it," said Finn with a sigh. "Sadly, I think I'm going to have to separate from my friends soon. We've been traveling together since Blackthorn, but I just don't think I'll be able to keep this secret from them if we all stay together."

There was a trace of pity in the bug trainer's eye when he turned to Finn next. "I'm sorry to hear that. It seems to be a common theme for us type users—to be alone," he said. "But let me ask you something—If you could go back, would you change it? Would you rather _not_ have these abilities?"

It wasn't something Finn had spent much time thinking about. The ground type had become a part of him. It was like he'd gained an entire new limb or a sixth sense. Would he take it back if he could? Even as the question crossed his mind, he knew that there was only one real answer.

No, he wouldn't change a thing.

When the unown had awakened his power, he'd become truly himself for the first time. He'd gained his own agency. This power would allow him, and his team, to reach higher than he'd ever thought possible. It hadn't been that long ago that his most realistic path in life was toiling away at a job he didn't care for, working for a boss where he'd be considered nothing more than a productivity statistic.

"I don't think so," said Finn, still thinking. "Maybe my answer would've been different if I'd never awakened? I've never been someone who's sought power for power's sake. Now though, I have the attention of the League for something completely out of my control. I think if I'd had the option before, I might've tried the harder route."

"Interesting," the Gym leader gave him an appraising look. "Well, just know that if you ever need advice, you can count on me Finn. Us youngsters should stick together. There's not many type users our age in this country."

"I've been wondering about that," said Finn. "Are _all_ of the Gym leaders type users?"

Bugsy gave him the run-down of the 'who's who' of type users in Johto. Apparently, each and every Gym leader and Elite in the country had formed a type core. The bug trainer was only aware of one Gym leader in each of Sinnoh and Kanto who were simply exceptional trainers. Other than themselves, Bugsy knew of one other trainer under the age of twenty-five in Johto—Jasmine, the Gym leader of Olivine city. Falkner was just over that threshold and there was an ACE trainer grass type user who was not much older than him.

"So, I've been meaning to ask—can Falkner actually fly?" said Finn. "I wasn't imagining things at the battle in Violet the other week?"

"It's not true flight, no. But he can manipulate the air currents, which might as well be flying with those big gliders he wears. Falkner may be an ass, but he's one of the most talented people I know at using their type abilities externally. Right now, my body is enhanced, but I've never been able to reliably manifest a full-on bug type technique."

That was something Finn had been unsure about. What could he eventually do? He'd made the ground around him move in a heightened state of emotion back in Sinjoh, but he hadn't done anything similar since then. Would the extent of his abilities be more like Bugsy or Falkner?

Aegis poked his stomach with one of her tentacles, bringing him out of his musings and making him realize that the rain had finally stopped.

"Look at that, the rain's finished," said Finn.

Finn and Bugsy climbed down, with the other trainer pausing to say a quick prayer to the Guardian of the Forest. Just for superstition's sake Finn sent a mental 'thank you' to the Guardian, before turning to leave.

If the two trainers had been paying slightly more attention, they may have noticed a dark-pink glow briefly light up in the canopy of the forest behind the shrine as they left.

* * *

Hiking was slow going in the sodden conditions. The duo slopped through the muddy clearing until they reached another narrow trail in the forest. A thick layer of pine needles obscured the path, but Bugsy knew where he was going. They walked for thirty minutes or so, their boots occasionally squelching into the mud.

"Okay, so I'm thinking we'll have a nice training session here, and then camp for the night," said Bugsy. "Tomorrow morning, we'll see about getting you a badge."

Bugsy first asked Finn to release his team so he could assess them.

One-by-one his team appeared onto the damp earth in front of the Gym leader.

Felix stood proud by Finn's side with Dixie just behind him, curiously looking around the lightly wooded area. The avian fire type kept lifting her talons off the wet earth beneath her and shaking them, as if the action would get rid of the water. Benedict just hummed sadly before settling down in a patch of sun that had peaked out from behind the clouds. Quake, who had materialized with a snarl at the presence of an unknown trainer, was quickly able to deduce how out of his league Bugsy was with just one glance at Axel. The towering scizor's piercing yellow eyes could freeze just about any enemy in place. Finally, Aegis wrapped her many arms around herself and plopped onto the ground, enjoying the damp conditions.

"This is them," said Finn with a gesture, scratching Felix on his furry hump.

"Quite the team for a one-badger," said Bugsy. "You have five pokémon already, with no type overlap, barring your larvitar and piloswine, but that will change." Bugsy scratched his head in thought.

"Hmm, how should we do this? How do you typically train them?"

Finn was about to answer, when the older trainer stopped him by saying, "This is stupid, how will I know what we should work on if I haven't seen your pokémon battle?" At this, he paused. "Let's get your challenge out of the way right now, what do you say?"

On one hand, Finn was not a fan of surprises. On the other, he was pretty sure that he was ready. After Falkner, Clair had told him that he was probably ready for a third-tier Gym battle and his team had only grown stronger in the weeks that followed. Further, Finn had the clear type advantage. Dixie, Felix, and Quake all could use super-effective moves against most of the common bug types.

"You're on," said Finn. "Your challenges are usually three-on-three, right?"

"Yep!" Bugsy called back. "Clair ordered me to not take it easy on you, so be ready. That said, while the second tier is a step forward from the first, if you're far enough along to have two evolved pokémon, I don't think you will have too much trouble with my squad. In fact, that combusken looks like it might be capable of sweeping my usual second tier team"

Finn recalled his pokémon, and the two trainers found a gap in the trees large enough for them to space out their battle.

Then it began.

In a flash, Bugsy released a golden pupa pokémon onto the field. The kakuna let out a vibrating chittering sound.

Finn could feel the adrenaline begin to pump throughout his body. At long last, he was able to use Quake in a trainer battle. He'd been holding his larvitar back from competitive battles for months now, and he could tell that resentment had started to take hold whenever his teammates were out battling other trainers without him. Now, in the absence of any cameras watching, he'd be able to see what his pokémon was made of.

"C'mon out Quake," he said. "Start it off with a rock throw!"

Quake's lips pulled back, baring his sharp white fangs at his opponent.

Finn wasn't sure if it was the excitement of his first battle or what, but a swirling storm of sand and dirt manifested itself around Quake. As they moved, the grains of sand tore apart the grass surrounding his pokémon.

Recently, he'd noticed that his pokémon tended to develop new moves most often in the midst of battle.

"Great job using sandstorm Quake, but let's hit it with a rock throw okay!"

"Harden"

An oran sized stone emerged from the ground beneath Quake, and he hurled it at the kakuna, which had begun to glow as it toughened its shell. The super-effective attack pierced through the harden technique and chipped away parts of the exoskeleton of the beedrill pre-evolution.

"Poison sting," said Bugsy.

"Get in close, and tackle it!"

He'd been training Quake for speed ever since the lizard pokémon had hatched, but not even their drills prepared Finn for how quickly the rock-ground type sped across the battlefield. Within the sandstorm, Finn could make out two trails of air streaming out behind Quake as he made his way towards the kakuna.

Bugsy's pokémon unleashed a series of sharp, purple stingers from its mouth. The stingers flew through the air with precision and spattered against Quake's rock hard scales. Stinger after stinger ricocheted off Quake's body, with one or two finding purchase in the crevices in-between his scales.

Through his link, Finn could sense that Quake wouldn't be stopped by a little pain. As his larvitar neared the kakuna, he flipped into the air and slammed his spiky tail onto the pupa pokémon's head with a loud crack.

Bugsy recalled the pokémon.

"Nice work there Finn. Your larvitar is tough, but since your team is so well suited to face mine and I want to see them all battle, let's switch at the same time, okay?"

Finn nodded, even though he could feel how much Quake protested the action. He'd finally been let loose, and the battle had felt too fast.

"Quake, you're just too strong, buddy! We'll have you battling again after this, okay?"

Dixie defeated Bugsy's ledian with a single flamethrower attack.

The pokémon's red and black carapace was charred black after only a couple of seconds, causing the Gym leader to hurriedly recall the bug pokémon, lest she succumb to her wounds.

Death wasn't something that happened a lot in sanctioned battles, but that was because most trainers knew their team's limits exceptionally well. Trainers needed to remain vigilant so they could recall their pokémon before any lasting damage was done. This was especially true for some of the more fragile types of pokémon, namely bug types.

"Hmm, we didn't get to see much with that one. Alright, last pokémon Finn!" said Bugsy. "Let's see how you do against a tier three pokémon. Switch again!"

A bug type that Finn had always wanted to see materialized onto the grassy terrain. Pale green, and where arms should have been, long white sickle blades protruded from it's exoskeleton. On its back, vibrating clear wings extended into the air, glittering in the sun. The monster's head was oddly reptilian for a bug type pokémon.

Bugsy called, "Scyther, use quick attack."

Felix was out of his ball, and while he was much stronger after evolution, his starter had never been known for his speed.

"Try and knock it back with a bulldoze, then prepare an icy wind!"

Before Felix was able to get the dirt moving, the scyther reappeared next to him, slashing his back with one of the deadly looking blades.

A spike of pain transmitted across their link, letting Finn know exactly how hurt his starter was.

Felix wasn't a stupid pokémon. His starter immediately realized that the bulldoze technique had become untenable and switched to icy wind, shooting a torrent of ice and snow from his maw at the scyther's back. The pokémon had overextended its slash and was now facing away from Felix. The icy wind poked holes in the almost delicate looking wings adorning the bug's back.

"Focus energy, then fury cutter!" called Bugsy.

"Rock tomb while it's focusing, Felix!"

The speedy bug type paused its acrobatic movements for long enough to concentrate on the focus energy, which Felix took full advantage of. After a quick mental calculation, Felix's technique pulled four sharp rocks from the earth, trapping one of the scyther's feet in its clutches.

Finn was considering trying Felix's new ice shard attack, but it was too new to be used reliably.

"Icy wind"

"Get loose and get off that fury cutter Scyther!"

The scyther thrashed its foot against the stone to no avail before slicing one of the rocks in half with its bladed arm, breaking free. It was too late though. Felix's icy wind engulfed the bug type's form.

When the move was completed, Bugsy's battered pokémon was inhaling and exhaling sharply, clearly exhausted. Geen blood oozed from where its carapace had been punctured by shards of ice.

"One last quick attack!" shouted Bugsy.

This caught Finn by surprise, thinking that he'd won the battle already.

"Protect, then icicle crash while it's close!"

Thankfully, Felix was in complete control and in tune with what Finn wanted him to accomplish. A shining barrier of light acted as a shield when Bugsy's scyther reappeared like a ninja, slashing its green-glowing bladed arm at Felix.

Just as sharp icicles began to form on Felix's tusks, his starter reared himself up onto his hind legs and violently swung his head upwards towards the bug pokémon, piercing the scyther's hard exoskeleton.

Bugsy recalled his pokémon. They'd won.

And just like that, Finn and his team had completed their badge obligations to remain League trainers for a second year. He wouldn't say that it had been easy, because it hadn't been. But the hardest part hadn't been defeating the Gym leaders, but rather surviving the wilderness and the monsters that inhabited Johto. This had been a goal of his for so long, but somehow accomplishing it left Finn feeling somewhat empty. There was just so much that he had left to do.

Finn decided to enjoy the moment anyway.

Bugsy walked over. "Woah, man! I knew that you'd have the advantage with that team comp', but Finn, your team was way over prepared for a tier two Gym. I can't stop thinking about the pressurized air your larvitar used, and how powerful a flamethrower your combusken could wield, and that's not even mentioning Felix! Icicle crash! What have you been doing, man?"

Finn's face colored somewhat and he smiled awkwardly. "Well, we train hard," he said, bending down to spray a potion across Felix's back where a dark streak of blood had begun drying in Felix's fur. The cut was so smooth that it made Finn wonder about exactly how sharp scyther's blades really were.

Hearing feedback like that from a Gym leader was like what he imagined taking blissey egg extract might feel like. It was intoxicating and an affirmation that he'd made the right choice in leaving home.

Bugsy's own enthusiasm was infectious. "I'm impressed, my man. Felix didn't lose his cool when confronted with a faster opponent and was able to smoothly transition into a more appropriate strategy in the split second that he had."

"Thanks, Bugsy. It's nice knowing that we're not out here giving it our all for nothing," said Finn, before recalling something that the Gym leader had said. "What was that you were saying about pressurized air?"

"You weren't aware of it?" he asked, surprised. "It was clear as day to me when Quake used sandstorm. I'll admit, larvitar are so rare that I could be wrong, but normally the larvitar line only uses pressurized air to hasten their movements after they pupate and lose their limbs. It's those black diamond shaped holes in their scales, Finn. Quake pulled air in through the ones on its stomach, and expelled the pressurized air from the ones on its back to make it move faster."

How had Finn missed that with his own pokémon? How long had Quake been using this speed technique? Finn would have to speak with Mr. Pokémon about the development whenever he had a chance.

"I had no idea. I raised Quake from an egg, and one of Professor Elm's friends suggested I train him exclusively for speed until his scales fully hardened after birth," said Finn. "Do you think that this pressurized air was how he adapted to the training?"

"Might be, but it's fascinating regardless," the Gym leader said, his love for talking about pokémon clear in his expression. "I think I've seen enough to where we can begin your training session. Take a thirty minute breather, and we'll get started!"

Finn continued to heal Felix, and called the rest of the team out of their balls. He congratulated Dixie and Quake on battles well fought, but the two were yet again glaring daggers at each other.

' _That damn sitrus berry_ ,' thought Finn. ' _I wish I'd never given them the damned thing._ '

From his bag, Finn pulled out some treats for Felix and two, hopefully identical, berries.

"If you two don't stop that, we won't be battling for a week," said Finn, imparting a stern tone to his voice. "Now, you two performed fantastically in that battle, so you each will get _one_ berry. If I see you two fighting, it's over. Got it?"

Felix began grunting at the two, letting them know in his own way that he'd be watching them.

Before Bugsy came back, he set Aegis and Benedict some training tasks. They were both still figuring themselves out, and while Aegis could probably handle a little of what the rest of the team would be doing, he didn't want to push her too much while she was still adjusting.

"Benny, let's work on forming one leech seed at a time, and see how that goes, okay bud?" he asked, crouching down as both of his pokémon were quite small.

"Aegis, I want you to work on poison sting. Don't aim at us, please."

Finn almost jumped in surprise when he heard Bugsy speak from behind him. "I knew that your exeggcute was injured in Violet. How has his recovery been?"

"It's slow going, and it's taken a little time for me to regain this little guy's trust, but he works hard. I have complete faith that he'll be a formidable exeggutor in the not-so-distant future" said Finn. Upon speaking, Benedict sent a trickle of positive emotion across their bond.

Bugsy knelt down to examine his pokémon.

"Hmm, the new pseudobulbs are growing well. If I was you, I'd have him work hard on his psychic abilities while the other bulbs are young. With any luck, it could hasten their mental development and get them prepared to use psychic techniques a little faster."

At the Gym leader's suggestion, he altered his training plans for Benedict for the afternoon. The exeggcute went back to increasing the amount of weight he could hold with confusion.

Once Aegis and Benedict began their work, the two trainers and the rest of Finn's team walked over to where Bugsy's pokémon had congregated. All around were pokémon that could contend on an elite level. Finn had never seen so many pokémon of that caliber up close before. Besides Bugsy's scizor, there was a heracross, forretress, ninjask, galvantula, and a golisopod. All of the pokémon were well behaved, and moved with a honed precision that spoke to long hours of training.

"Okay, so one of my favorite training methods is one that I picked up from Leader Chuck in Cianwood. It's called Defend or Dodge. Here, let me show you with Axel," said Bugsy, waving over at his main pokémon.

The crimson steel type pokémon positioned himself in front of his teammates. The others all formed a line, and one at a time began dishing out attacks.

The heracross bent its navy body forward, pointing its horn straight at Axel who crossed his gauntleted arms in anticipation. As the fighting-bug type approached, the scizor's exoskeleton shone a bright silver.

Next to him, Bugsy whispered, "That's an iron defense technique. It's very difficult to learn. That means that Axel is going to take this attack head on."

Just like the Gym leader told him, Axel intercepted the heracross's megahorn attack and deflected it to the side, his feet digging into the ground from the power of the blow. The scizor then turned to its next opponent and firmed his stance. Bugsy's golisopod was next. The exotic water-bug type extended its claws and two large amorphous blobs of water formed around the extremities.

"This one Axel will dodge. He doesn't like water attacks," said Bugsy.

Watching Axel handle attack after attack with ease made Finn only have one thought, ' _I think I just might have to catch a scyther now._ ' It was a daunting thought since scyther were extremely dangerous and territorial pack hunters, but he'd always wanted a steel type and he had an expert standing right next to him.

This continued for a while, with each of Bugsy's team taking a shot at the head of the line. When they went through the entire rotation, another of his team members would take Axel's spot and have to 'Defend or Dodge.'

"This type of training is good for everyone. Your pokémon get accustomed to countering many different kinds of attacks. It's especially helpful for us type users since a lot of the time our team can tell when we're concerned about an upcoming attack from an opponent and can quickly react to our perceptions, oftentimes they can do this without a command from their trainer."

The training went on for hours, with Finn implementing his own version of what the Gym leader was doing. Dixie and Quake took a disturbing amount of pleasure in dishing out dangerous attacks at each other when it was their turn in line. His larvitar, being the youngest and only unevolved member of the team that he was training, had the most trouble intercepting attacks. Although, with some help from Bugsy, the rock lizard was eventually able to dodge some of Felix's attacks with his speed.

Felix's protect technique was pretty much a cheat for the exercise so Finn had needed to ban him from using it after his first go round. At one point, Felix's bulldoze buried Dixie over her head, and Finn had a minor freak-out that his pokémon would suffocate. Fortunately, Felix was on top of things and was able to free her before any damage was done. By the end of their training session, his team was exhausted and in serious need of some potions.

One fantastic thing that Finn realized was that this method of training was a great way for his pokémon to learn improvisation. He knew his team was already fairly good at that, but since Finn wasn't instructing them as much as usual, they were forced to hone their natural instincts.

"Let's set up camp and make some dinner, what do you say?" said Bugsy, walking over. "I think your team's just about had enough, huh?"

It wasn't long thereafter when the two trainers and a menagerie of pokémon were settled in, eating dinner around a campfire. Finn marveled at the composure of Bugsy's pokémon. There was no bickering over berries or rough-housing. They all seemed to enjoy each other's company, chittering and hissing at each other while they ate.

"Hey, I've got a quick question," said Finn, who was planning to milk this opportunity for all of the knowledge that he could get. "What order do you think I should take on the remainder of the Gym leaders? I was planning on Whitney next, and then probably Morty, but after that my plans get sort of muddled."

A contemplative look overcame the lavender haired trainer's face. "Hmm, well based on your team comp', I'd probably recommend saving Jasmine for your fifth tier match since Dixie and Felix would be an awesome combo against her team. I'd wait until Benedict and Aegis are in battling shape to take on Chuck since Felix and Quake are weak there. With Dixie's fire and fighting moves, Pryce would probably be a good option for a near-term badge, that is if the old fart doesn't retire before you get there."

That seemed like sound advice to Finn, but he was a bit shocked at the revelation that Pryce could retire. The old man had been a Gym leader for decades in Johto. It would be the end of an era.

"What? Pryce might retire?" asked Finn.

"Yeah, ever since that incident with his daughter all of those years back, he's been on the decline. He's been struggling to contain the recent outbreak of crime in Mahogany, so the League's been putting some pressure on him. Hell, Azalea's got it's own problems right now, with all of the chronic migraines the people have been having, I might have the League breathing down my neck soon too," said Bugsy, his normal jovial demeanor slipping into a serious one.

Axel nudged his trainer and sat down on the ground next to him, breaking the bug type trainer out of his thoughts. It was interesting how the steel-bug type's limbs moved without a sound, no squeaks or scraping sounds as the metal rubbed against metal.

Finn decided to change the subject.

"So, I've been thinking about what pokémon to catch for my sixth team member, and have been leaning towards a steel type. I was wondering how you caught Axel?" asked Finn. He was a bit nervous because some people took those types of questions too personally.

Bugsy looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "I'd have thought you'd be drawn to more ground types, but there's certainly perks to being well-rounded," he said. "As for Axel, it was a lucky accident. I was lost in this very forest during a large rainstorm—pretty similar to the one we just went through—when I came across his egg poking up from where a mudslide had torn across the route."

"Oh—," Finn sighed. Of course the Gym leader hadn't fought off a pack of the deadly creatures, he'd found an egg like he'd done with Quake. "I didn't realize you raised him from birth. What was it like raising a scyther?"

Bugsy smiled. "That's the thing though, he hatched as a scizor. The scyther line lay their eggs underground for safety, and they can take a long time to develop. Sometimes the dirt they bury their eggs in is rich in minerals and metals, which can result in a baby scizor. It's very rare, but it happens."

Finn hadn't been aware that was even possible, but then again, the mysteries around certain evolutions were coveted by trainers around the world.

"Oh wow, I wouldn't think you'd tell me something like that. I thought that trainers kept evolution secrets like that locked in a vault somewhere."

Bugsy leaned back against one of the overturned logs they'd been using for firewood. "I guess it's a secret, but it doesn't happen very often and is not the usual way that trainers evolve their scyther. By the time I made a name for myself, most of the trainers who knew about the usual method of evolving scizor just assumed I knew about it, so I weaseled that information out of them too."

"Huh, so scyther are like my exeggcute then? I could use the method Leader Erika published, or a leaf stone to evolve him. But I'm guessing you won't tell me the normal way, will you?" asked Finn.

"Maybe I will one day if you manage to catch a scyther of your own," the older trainer said.

That was enough for Finn to solidify his decision to catch one.

Their conversation remained friendly, but Bugsy told him that catching a scyther from a pack would be suicide at this point in his training career. Further, taking one from its pack-mates would not be a great way to form a bond with such a monster. After that, the Gym leader began listing out a few other options for Finn. Scyther were occasionally high-dollar prizes at the casinos in Goldenrod or could be found as rewards in some of the larger tournaments.

Bugsy was about to keep telling Finn of the other impossible ways for him to obtain a scyther, when he paused. "Wait a minute! You might actually have a perfect way to find one—or at least an egg. With your abilities, you might as well be a living egg-detector," he said, chuckling.

Instantly, Finn began forming plans for a trip deeper into the forest.

Bugsy interrupted his thoughts. "Finn, I can see that look on your face, but going into scyther territory alone to find an egg would still be stupid dangerous. I'd send a Gym trainer out with you, but then they'd be wondering what you were doing the whole time and we both know that's a secret not worth divulging."

Finn was silent for a moment as the realization sunk in that he might just have to wait until he was stronger.

"I'll tell you what, Finn. We're what, five or six months into the League season? Train the team you've got and get as many badges as you can before the winter break and come back. We'll do some training and I'll take you to the stretch of forest where the Ilex pack lives."

* * *

**POV Shift:**

Alan strode into their private room at the Pokémon Center with Phanpy trotting silently along at his feet. Once again, he took a moment to take in the plush furnishings and private bathroom in their suite. Alan still couldn't believe that Finn had sprung for the place. Rooms like these were luxuries that trainers of Alan's means typically couldn't enjoy until they'd made a name for themselves. He was pretty sure that his friend, at least the one he'd known for the past few years, wouldn't have shelled out the cash for this room unless something serious had changed in his financial situation.

It was just another piece to the puzzle that was Finn. He couldn't help but wonder about his friend's transformation ever since he and Orion had returned from the Charicific Valley. Finn had always been a quiet person, whose strong personality naturally drew people to him even if Finn didn't realize it himself. Ever since they'd come back, Finn had exuded a much more overt confidence that he'd lacked before. All of that, plus the strange, almost supernatural, ability Finn had shown when they were traversing Union Cave didn't add up. It was unexplainable, and Alan's curious personality wasn't going to let it go.

He picked up the pokédex that Finn had left on his bedside table, noticing an unopened voicemail. When he saw the number, he froze.

It was his parents number.

Alan wondered how they'd gotten their pokédex number in the first place. He certainly hadn't given it to them. With a nervous finger, he pressed play.

"Hi Alan, it's you dad here. Well, your mother and I, you know that we didn't approve of that trainer stuff you've been doing, but you're still our son. We just wanted you to have a safe and stable life here in Blackthorn, but Wendy—you remember your neighbor right?—came over the other night and showed us the video of your first Gym battle. You sure surprised us, kid! That electric pokémon of yours evolving in the battle, it was exciting!"

Alan barely noticed as his breath quickened and his grip tightened around the device. Were his parents actually calling to make amends? Were they going to apologize for shitting all over his dreams and his passion for learning about and training pokémon?

The message continued.

"Well, we were thinking that beating Gym leaders and all, you must be making some serious money? Your mother and I have been having a bit of a bad go of it, and were wondering if you might send us back a little of what you're making—,"

The message continued, but Alan was done listening. Of course the message wasn't one of support, but one asking for it. Numbly, he changed and made his way outside. He and Orion were going to do some training out on the route east of town while they waited for Finn to get back. Alan had even been thinking about trying to catch a slowpoke. He remembered that the older gentleman had said they were being more reclusive than usual, but psychic type and water types were both incredibly useful.

* * *

**POV Shift:**

Richard hated writing reports. He knew it was a poor quality in a scientist, but he hated it all the same. This time, the test panels coming back from the slowpoke tails they were studying were way outside of their original baseline, and it meant that the camp would have to remain outside Azalea to run some more tests. The tails were showing a sharp increase in an evolution hormone they'd pinpointed early on in their research.

Was slowpoke evolution physiology seasonal? That could've been the reason for the increase.

Richard put his head into his hands and sighed. The boss was not going to like another delay, and the boss did not take delays well. While Richard knew that Team Rocket might've been skirting around the edges of legality regarding pokémon science, he also was of the opinion that their endgame was what would be best for humanity as a whole.

His gaze was drawn to the large cages behind their workstation, and the small mechanical boxes outside each one. They were emitting a dark energy field around the cages since the distressed water-psychic pokémon had been causing problems for the crew, causing everyone to get splitting headaches.

Richard wasn't even sure how the contraptions worked. The team lead on the project had somehow been able to manufacture the boxes.

He shivered at the thought of Burke. The lead on this mission was a man in his mid-fifties with a bristly white mustache. The man's krookodile always leered at all of the workers as it stalked around their work area. Richard got the distinct feeling that the bipedal dark-ground type lizard would enjoy tearing each and every one of them apart if it ever got the chance.

Richard's eyes landed on the last cage in the row and he had to quell the uneasy feeling that rose within him. There, an elderly man lay unconscious among the light-pink pokémon, his blue exercise clothes a stark contrast against the mass of slowpoke.

* * *

 **Finn:  
** Felix - Piloswine  
Benedict - Exeggcute  
Quake – Larvitar  
Dixie - Combusken  
Aegis - Mareanie

 **Orion:  
** Darya - Horsea  
Magikarp  
Drake - Grovyle  
Tufts - Flaffy  
Charmander

 **Alan:  
** Phanpy  
Breloom  
Luxio  
Charmander

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Whelp, there we go. Two badges down, six to go. What did you think of the POVs at the end? It was a bit experimental of me (and I don't think it will become a common thing with this story), but I think it'll help flesh things out for the rest of the Azalea arc. Reviews, follows/favorites are appreciated!


End file.
